>  AK> Well, the line has to be drawn somewhere.  Here I believe drivers are
 >  AK> supposed
 >  AK> to allow for a car length's distance between each car in normal
 >  AK> conditions.
 >    The best rule I've ever seen is 2 seconds between
Hmm, I've always heard 3 seconds.
 > his back bumper and
 > yours.  Actually, soneone who is paying attention, in
 > good shape, knows his
 > hardware can do with a little less than 1 second if
 > his brakes and tires are
 > in better shape than those of the guy ahead of him -
 > but two seconds is better,
 > and it's easier to figure than how long a car is and
Agreed.
 > how many of them would
 > fit between two vehicles. I get uncomfortable when the
 > anal sphincters push
 > into that space, but usually they're gone again in
 > short order.  I find the
You must not have ever driven on loop 610 around Houston. You try to keep 
that distance, and you will be gradually decelerating.  Keep going at the 
prevailing high speed, and I think people don't leave more than a yard 
clearance (if that much) between cars.  If somebody overtaking can shoehorn 
his car into the space ahead of you, he will.
 > two seconds easy to check, easy to maintain, and what
 > speed I travel doesn't
 > make a difference in that rule, whereas if you're
 > using a car length for x mph,
 >  it gets hard to figure - and we wouldn't want folks
 > having to THINK, too!
Heaven forbid!
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