People stopping like this at traffic lights

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

Has anyone else noticed a bizarre increase of drivers stopping at least a full cars length away from the white line at a red light? It’s so odd, why is it happening? I’m sure it never used to be a thing but recently I’ve noticed it more and more

Are they leaving room for cycles? It's perfectly normal to do this in cities.

Someone was doing this the other day and then creeping forward really slowly. Every single light. I found it very irritating!

I was going to ask if there's a box for cycles too. Although all our line markings are so faded you can't actually see them anymore.

If there were bikes I wouldn’t question it. But there’s never any bikes when I see it. And they don’t creep either, they stop properly

Not around where I live.

There's a crossroads with lights where I stay a bit further back because you can't see around the corner due to buildings and some people come round it too fast, and also some long vehicles need a bit of extra space to get turned as it's quite tight.

My friend does this. I don’t get it.

DP says its because The Stupid People of The Internet believe that the magnetometers under the road that monitor traffic levels interfere with their fertility or some other nonsense.

This is a set of lights I saw it at today. Two cars (the pink lines), both leaving huge gaps before the line. We are the blue line on the right. There were no bikes in the left lanes, neither car was creeping, there was no reason to leave so much space. I just don’t get it!

Yep. Also seem to be coming across people who sit back about 4-5 car lengths from the car in front. Especially annoying when it’s in a queue to get off a motorway and cars who haven’t waited in the queue and driven along the next lane keep taking the opportunity to nip in front of the car hanging back. Means you get effectively shunted further and further back in an already ridiculously slow queue.

Please ask them why and report back to us

Just because there’re no cycles doesn’t mean there isn’t a box for them and you’re not allowed to be in the box.

you obviously drive and the fact you don’t know this is worrying.

Yes, I’ve seen this locally, usually people with SUVs. I assume that they can’t see over the massive bonnet and so have no idea that they’re not just behind the line. So we sit there while the lights fail to change because their car isn’t on the sensor, and eventually they cop on and move forward. And hey presto, the lights go green! 🙄

Edit to say no cycle box at those lights. Just people being dim.

Not every set of traffic lights has a box for bikes. There’s one set of lights in my town that has a cycle box and people still stop miles away from the car line.

If you do that around here it doesn't trigger the lights. So you sit behind some clueless fucker for a few full cycles before they click on. Or you have to get out and tell them to budge up a bit.

I’ve seen this discussed elsewhere on the internet. Apparently new drivers are being taught to do this by driving instructors. Theory is so if you get rear ended your car won’t be shunted into the intersection. You’ll have that car-sized gap for safety.

Almost everyone in that discussion thought it was bonkers and pointed out that being that far back won’t trigger the lights to change.

I leave a small amount of room for motorbikes, never for push bikes! I don't think it really matters, does it?

I do as I don’t want my front end removed by trucks turning the corner towards me

This is the reason

My dd’s driving instructor advised that she should see tyres and tarmac when she stops so if this is being taught to others…

also I did a driving awareness course last year many of the other attendees were from Leicester and they have a lot of traffic light cameras there.
Apparently some people had had blue light police cars come up behind them when they were already at the line and pulled forward over the line to let the police car through. This is classed as jumping the lights (resulting in 3 points or a course) regardless of the police sirens/car behind. The advice was to leave that gap then you can either budge up to the line or the police car has more space to get round you?

Tyres and tarmac only applies when there’s a car in front of you though!

@JurgenKloppsTeethyou’re right but I think they get used to leaving that patch of road…

When I was learnt to drive many moons ago I was taught to put the handbrake on in order to avoid being shunted into the intersection. Nowadays, everyone just seems to sit at lights with their foot on the footbrake.

Where I live they stop way over the line then creep their entire car over. Block the pedestrian crossing. I get sick of it.

I don’t do this but I do find sometimes that I can’t see the lights easy. It depends on the junction/ lights position of course. It’s like the lights are sometimes too high up if you’re on the line. So sitting a few metres back would resolve that issue I suppose so perhaps it’s because of that. I assume this issue would be even worse if you’re sat in a big suv