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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Drivers - what’s with the gap?

130 replies

tanstaafl · 10/07/2020 20:09

For the first time in months, I’ve been out this morning at rush hour ( or what constitutes rush hour in this ruralish place I live ).

There it was , ‘the gap’.

Car in front waiting at lights. There’s a gap between the front of their car and the white line you could get an old mini into.

I was taught you pull up to the line imagining the bumper ( remember them!) just about above the white line.

Are drivers taught differently now?

I see it between cars queuing at lights too.
Is everyone being taught VIP protection techniques these days?

Yabu - times have moved on , keep up grandma
Yanbu - I too want to tap on their window and ‘offer suggestions’

OP posts:

SimonJT · 10/07/2020 20:52

You should always leave enough room between you and the white line to move out of the way for ambulances etc, but also to allow cyclists and motorcyclists to pull into the gap.

In traffic you should always be far enough away from the car in front to see their rear wheels.

lifestooshort123 · 10/07/2020 20:54

Not really noticed this and after 50 years of driving wouldn't be bothered by it tbh.

PenelopePitstop49 · 10/07/2020 20:57

I get stuck most weekday mornings in queues coming off a busy motorway junction. There aren't actually many cars, just idiot drivers leaving massive gaps who seem to enjoy forming a long queue.

I'd love a James Bond style missile on my front bumper.

bloodywhitecat · 10/07/2020 20:59

I was taught "Tyres on tarmac" (you should be able the see the tyres on the tarmac on the car in front) means in the event of being rear ended you should be far enough away to not be shunted into the car in front.

Pomegranatemolasses · 10/07/2020 21:03

I agree with you OP. Especially when you are in slow moving traffic, and there's a yellow box, or you need to turn off on a side lane, and someone's left half a mile between them and the car in front.

HopeClearwater · 10/07/2020 21:03

I thought this was going to be about people who drive up to a junction to turn on to a main road but stop about four feet short of the broken white lines so they can’t see what the hell is coming... although it pains me to say it and it may be confirmation bias, it always seems to be women.

Microwaveoven · 10/07/2020 21:04

Because leaving a gap means you can't be shunted into the car in front. Always leave a gap between yourself and the car in front. That's what happened on the massive M5 crash years ago. 10 cars shunted into each other.

Also a lot of traffic lights now have those weird safety things in front of the lights and you can't see them properly.

It also gives room to get out of a traffic jam/out the way for tractors/999 vehicles.

burdog · 10/07/2020 21:05

I was taught you should pull up so you can see the back wheels of the car in front. I admit it is annoying when you see three cars spaced out where you could fit 5 or 6. However, I've had my fair share of ambulances trying to squeeze, dodgy traffic lights and needed to do an awkward manoeuvre that would be impossible if you didn't leave a gap.

1Morewineplease · 10/07/2020 21:09

Junction near me.., a T junction.. . if you leave too much of a gap between the white line and the front of your car, the traffic lights won’t change automatically... they will miss out a change so you can end up waiting for a long length of time, even though the traffic from left and right will have stopped to wait for your lane to move . Bonkers

sophiestew · 10/07/2020 21:09

Well I am in my fifties and was taught you leave a gap so you don't get shunted into the back of the vehicle in front so I really don't think it's a new thing OP......

bettsbattenburg · 10/07/2020 21:09

@lockdownsunflowers

I was taught that in a queue you should be able to see the bottom of the wheels of the car in front

So was I.

DJattheendoftheworld · 10/07/2020 21:10

I was taught 'tyres and tarmac', as in you should be able to see the tyres of the car in front and some tarmac when you stop at lights. I learned to drive 10 years ago.

AliBear90 · 10/07/2020 21:11

Yes, I was taught to leave space so you can see the tyres of the car in front and some tarmac. In case someone rear ends you or the car in front doesn’t start/ accidentally reversed etc.

SpuriouserAndSpuriouser · 10/07/2020 21:15

I get stuck most weekday mornings in queues coming off a busy motorway junction. There aren't actually many cars, just idiot drivers leaving massive gaps who seem to enjoy forming a long queue.

Um, yes. Because a car/van going at speed along the motorway smacking into the back of a row of cars queuing bumper to bumper would be very bad news indeed.

jasjas1973 · 10/07/2020 21:15

OP there may have been a cyclist in front of the car you observed? Does it matter? Did you miss your appt for heart bypass surgery?

But how about worrying about your own driving skills instead of being a wanna be traffic cop?

Deelish75 · 10/07/2020 21:42

I was taught the seeing the tyres and tarmac.
I once saw a car rear end a chain of three cars. Christmas Eve about 3pm, I don't think anyone was hurt but the first car to be hit was a mess. Always make sure I leave a gap now.

RHOBHfan · 10/07/2020 21:44

just idiot drivers leaving massive gaps who seem to enjoy forming a long queue

Massive gap? Or enough of a gap so you can see the tyres of the vehicle in front as well as some tarmac?

The former? Not great.

The latter? Exactly what I drill into my associates when I observe (coach) them as I prepare them to take their Advanced Driving test through IAM.

Stops you rear ending the vehicle in front if you get rear ended.
Allows you to manoeuvre around a vehicle in front of it breaks down
Increases your visibility around the car in front
Allows you to escape in the event of an ambush (that one isn’t mine... but that’s what Bodyguard DH would say)

No brainer really.

Grilledaubergines · 10/07/2020 21:46

I’m so used to leaving a gap between me and the person walking/queuing in front that I’ve realised I’m doing the same in the car.

thenightsky · 10/07/2020 21:50

I think the not being on the white line if you are the front of the queue thing is because a lot of people don't realise just how short their front bonnet is.

I have a tiny Smart roadster and on a two lane road with lights, I'm often a full car's length ahead of the car beside me when we are sat side by side at the lights.

Silvercatowner · 10/07/2020 21:51

Why are people whittering on about 'tyres and tarmac'? Read the OP - the the gap she's grumbling about is the gap between the car in front and the white line at the lights. There is no car in front of that.

Wannabefarmer · 10/07/2020 21:53

@RHOBHfan

Tyres and tarmac...

Damn, you beat me to it!

CaptainHammer · 10/07/2020 21:57

@Silvercatowner OP mentions cars in the queue too

DogInATent · 10/07/2020 22:00

Tarmac-and-tyres, and for vehicles with restricted view behind them in front of you so that you can see one of their mirrors. Bugs me when I'm driving the motorhome when I know there's someone pulled up so close behind me I can't see them at all.

Sarahandco · 10/07/2020 22:02

surely it is just social distancing?

Callipygion · 10/07/2020 22:02

I usually pull up to the line as I thought there were sensors in the tarmac so the lights know cars are there. I do leave space if there’s a car in front of me though, in case someone shunts you forward, or the person in front rolls back.

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