DJA wrote:
Paul G. Allen wrote:
On Fri, 2007-02-23 at 22:04 -0800, DJA wrote:
It's really easy to keep a safe distance at any speed. The trick, as
mentioned by someone else, is to maintain as _consistent_ a speed as
possible. Use only the engine for braking whenever possible -
usually meaning running in at least one gear lower than optimal for
that speed - and use the brakes as little as possible.
There's no gear lower than 1st. I often drive most of the way to/from
work at idle. I often stop while cars in front of me are moving because,
as I stated, I refuse to slip and burn my clutch just to stay on the
bumper in front of me.
That's what brakes are for (and with a manual trans, neutral, the gear
below 1st). I never said I don't use my brakes, and I never said I
don't ever have to stop. I said the trick is consistency in speed.
Consistency in speed involve changes in speed that should be gradual to
none, i.e. no sudden changes in speed, and certainly no aggressive
decelerations. If aggressive decelerations are ever needed, you're
probably tailgating. And if the guy behind you is tailgating also, then
he will need to decelerate even *more* aggressively. At some point in
the tailgating chain, someone won't be able to decelerate aggressively
enough, and crunch! If you don't ever have to decelerate aggressively,
then neither will the guy behind you (unless he's not paying enough
attention, in which case you might *still* be crunched).
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