Here’s today’s Clover – the Ghost Car Clover. This is the Clover who, when stopped at a light, stops a full car length behind the car in front of him – leaving a gap large enough for another car to occupy the space.
Hence Ghost Clover.
This is aggravating because it needlessly increases “traffic” congestion. There aren’t more actual cars on the road; it just seems as though there are because the cars that are on the road are taking up twice the space!
. . .
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Oh that’s nothing. I’ve seen short stoppers at 3-4 car lengths.
There is a long turn lane I am blocked out of most days because people leave these enormous gaps. Intersection throughput just keeps dropping and dropping and now with stop-start….
Where it comes from? This behavior among other congestion causing ones are being taught. Driver’s ed, traffic school, etc.
I dunno Eric: When I drive in the big city, I leave enough space in front of me, just in case I have to “get the hell out of there”. Think carjack or active shooter. Now in a small town, maybe not so much. Also, if I’m the last guy in line, I’ll leave space JIC the guy coming up on me at the light is going too fast, (or something of that sort) to avoid getting rear ended. After he cozies up to me and has stopped, I’ll then move up.
That get away space is enough to see the tires of the vehicle in front touch the ground or less. It is much less than one car length. Think about how much space is needed to get out from being parallel parked without backing up? Not much.
I don’t have a problem with a care length since countless studies and my own experience shows traffic gets away faster and safer that way. Maybe I’ll bunch up in a turn lane when it’s needed.
I detest cars getting close to my truck going uphill. It’s not uncommon I have to slow leaving a light because some ahole won’t use their loud pedal to GTG on
As far as cellphones go, I wish there was a feature that would turn them off when stuck up to their face, generally the left side and so blinding the driver to side traffic and left side mirror.
Back in the day you have to pay extra for 2 mirrors. There’s no excuse for having something blocking your view especially the left side.
What really chaps my butt are people using a phone with their hand when I know their vehicle has hand free ability. And I hate to have to get slow driver’s attention on a 2 lane road by having them be able to see nothing but grill when they finally can’t ignore you any longer.
I realized long ago most slow drivers know you are there, they just like to hold you up. I’ve had those drivers brake check me in a car or pickup but that same ahole won’t do that with 80,000 lbs of truck on their ass. It really pisses me off to be put in that position. Often it’s that very person with a phone stuck to their face.
Since my old pickup doesn’t have Bluetooth I carry my headset. On a long enough trip I’ll sometimes call my best friend and chat for an hour….with both hands on the wheel, not because I need both hands but both hands indicate to cops you’re not doing something else like drinking a cold one which I normally am. Hell, my right hand is barely acquainted with the steering wheel. It knows to help out briefly on a tight turn.
Yeah, these ghost cars are a nationwide problem for sure. Around here it leads to double turn lanes being built because so many turn lanes have these people stacked out the back. So it leads to a second problem. People can’t figure out how to use the double turning lanes. So some clover goes around the corner, then quickly changes lanes and cuts off the person in the other turn lane. Or they under or over turn and invade the other person space (like they do on those curves).
In the last couple of years, I have found I use the horn constantly!
I think some of it is due to how people are taught to drive now a days. I know my driving instructor wouldn’t have tolerated leaving space like that. I know he was already old school back then (late 1980’s), but they didn’t teach timid driving back in the day. They do now.
I think another reason are the sail fones. You often see some clover jabbering on one of those, and they don’t notice that people moved up. Sometimes they don’t even notice the green, so they continue to sit. Guess that could be worse, you have the other kind of phone yakker that thinks people are moving and then rear ends someone.