Motorway 'safe' distance chevrons
Discussion
Back of a fag pack maths gap at 70mph ~ 1.28 seconds and at 80mph ~ 1.12 seconds.
I've understood the sign to keep two chevrons apart:
car > _ > car
it's never felt quite enough which if my maths is correct is the case.
So, should it be three chevrons to be more in line with the two second rule?
car > _ > _ > car
or have I misinterpreted it all along and it's just poor English and they meant two gaps between chevrons? Even the graphic is ambiguous IMO.
LordGrover said:
Back of a fag pack maths gap at 70mph ~ 1.28 seconds and at 80mph ~ 1.12 seconds.
I've understood the sign to keep two chevrons apart:
car > _ > car
it's never felt quite enough which if my maths is correct is the case.
So, should it be three chevrons to be more in line with the two second rule?
car > _ > _ > car
or have I misinterpreted it all along and it's just poor English and they meant two gaps between chevrons? Even the graphic is ambiguous IMO.
It's not "felt quite enough" for what?I've understood the sign to keep two chevrons apart:
car > _ > car
it's never felt quite enough which if my maths is correct is the case.
So, should it be three chevrons to be more in line with the two second rule?
car > _ > _ > car
or have I misinterpreted it all along and it's just poor English and they meant two gaps between chevrons? Even the graphic is ambiguous IMO.
It's not for stopping distance (which 2s rule isn't either at >40). It gives you nearly twice the accepted thinking distance time to react if you're just looking at the vehicle in front. (Which is why it doesn't suggest doubling the distance in the wet).
Well, that's how I interpret it.
LordGrover said:
So, should it be three chevrons to be more in line with the two second rule?
car > _ > _ > car
or have I misinterpreted it all along and it's just poor English and they meant two gaps between chevrons? Even the graphic is ambiguous IMO.
The above is two sets of chevrons apart, the same way that Monday the 11th and Monday the 18th are seven days apart. You do not count 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and think there are eight days in a week. car > _ > _ > car
or have I misinterpreted it all along and it's just poor English and they meant two gaps between chevrons? Even the graphic is ambiguous IMO.
Tonsko said:
Often thought it would be worth painting these on all the motorways. Not that the advice would be followed all of the time, but it's a decent 'always on' reminder.
Cost?Few drivers seem to bother with the current offering?
One set on the M6 were removed as they were causing issues.
http://goo.gl/maps/1QXZz
The satellite view shows chevrons on both carriageways, but if you go to street view, they've been taken off the northbound.
Vaux said:
Cost?
Few drivers seem to bother with the current offering?
One set on the M6 were removed as they were causing issues.
http://goo.gl/maps/1QXZz
The satellite view shows chevrons on both carriageways, but if you go to street view, they've been taken off the northbound.
What issues were they causing? Few drivers seem to bother with the current offering?
One set on the M6 were removed as they were causing issues.
http://goo.gl/maps/1QXZz
The satellite view shows chevrons on both carriageways, but if you go to street view, they've been taken off the northbound.
The maths is fine, it's a perception of what is required to be two chevrons apart that is flawed.
If the chevrons are 40m apart then you need to be at least 80m behind the car in front to ensure there are at least two chevrons between you at all times... That's about 2.6s @70mph.
If you were, say, 45m behind the car in front there would be fleeting moments when there were two chevrons between you, but most of the time it would be just one.
If the chevrons are 40m apart then you need to be at least 80m behind the car in front to ensure there are at least two chevrons between you at all times... That's about 2.6s @70mph.
If you were, say, 45m behind the car in front there would be fleeting moments when there were two chevrons between you, but most of the time it would be just one.
I much prefer to leave a 5 second gap at 50, 7 second gap at 70 etc, imo the chevrons are not far enough apart as others have said, what are they 2 second intervals? Not enough at anything above 30mph imo.
I guess they are there for drivers who have no comprehension of a safe distance, I ignore the chevrons and maintain my own safe distance, I watch the vehicle in front pass a marker, say a bridge, and then count in seconds until I pass the same marker. I did that with an examiner onboard, and specified in commentary that I was 'maintaining a 7 second gap at 70mph', all he said was 'excellent!'
How many times have we all seen drivers less than the two chevrons apart? Me, many.
I guess they are there for drivers who have no comprehension of a safe distance, I ignore the chevrons and maintain my own safe distance, I watch the vehicle in front pass a marker, say a bridge, and then count in seconds until I pass the same marker. I did that with an examiner onboard, and specified in commentary that I was 'maintaining a 7 second gap at 70mph', all he said was 'excellent!'
How many times have we all seen drivers less than the two chevrons apart? Me, many.
25NAD90TUL said:
I much prefer to leave a 5 second gap at 50, 7 second gap at 70 etc, imo the chevrons are not far enough apart as others have said, what are they 2 second intervals? Not enough at anything above 30mph imo.
I guess they are there for drivers who have no comprehension of a safe distance, I ignore the chevrons and maintain my own safe distance, I watch the vehicle in front pass a marker, say a bridge, and then count in seconds until I pass the same marker. I did that with an examiner onboard, and specified in commentary that I was 'maintaining a 7 second gap at 70mph', all he said was 'excellent!'
How many times have we all seen drivers less than the two chevrons apart? Me, many.
All of us many. You must drive on very empty motorways. On most that I drive on a 7 second gap, say 250 yards, would be rapidly filled by three other vehicles. Two seconds gives a reasonable amount of time to react, and therefore to avoid a hazard in front. If all drivers adopted a two second gap the already small number of motorway crashes would be greatly reduced.I guess they are there for drivers who have no comprehension of a safe distance, I ignore the chevrons and maintain my own safe distance, I watch the vehicle in front pass a marker, say a bridge, and then count in seconds until I pass the same marker. I did that with an examiner onboard, and specified in commentary that I was 'maintaining a 7 second gap at 70mph', all he said was 'excellent!'
How many times have we all seen drivers less than the two chevrons apart? Me, many.
Vaux said:
Cost?
Few drivers seem to bother with the current offering?
One set on the M6 were removed as they were causing issues.
http://goo.gl/maps/1QXZz
The satellite view shows chevrons on both carriageways, but if you go to street view, they've been taken off the northbound.
https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=53.245735,-2.401522&spn=0.000003,0.00284&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=53.245735,-2.401522&panoid=xNKITp1-cUZLOc9YTeV48g&cbp=12,195.2,,0,-4.93Few drivers seem to bother with the current offering?
One set on the M6 were removed as they were causing issues.
http://goo.gl/maps/1QXZz
The satellite view shows chevrons on both carriageways, but if you go to street view, they've been taken off the northbound.
https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=53.245041,-2.401465&...
LeoSayer said:
simoid said:
Is that not a bit excessive?
I think that's very sensible if conditions allow which they often don't.Seems a bit much to me in good visibility and traction conditions. If there's any traffic, people will constantly be dropping into that gap.
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