Just when you thought I gave up on the thread ... :)
No, he's not safe. He has no room to move side to side and has left the tractor trailer beside him with little option to move side to side. IOW, that's not safe.
What happens when they see the disintegrated remains of a truck tire in the middle of one of the lanes. What about the guys behind them who can't see that far ahead. One or more of the vehicles are going to have no choice but to run right over it.
Meanwhile, the driver who's not in close proximity to (an)other vehicle(s) will have plenty of room to go around it. Put that together with the fact that a driver who's driving a bit faster (or slower) than the rest of traffic tends to spend less time in close proximity to other vehicles and what do you get?
Traffic in adjacent lanes won't change if you're going nearly the same speed as they are.
But the speeder will have more room to make an evasive maneuver. The point of the matter is that regardless of speed, being in close proximity to other vehicles for extended periods of time is, by definition, not safe. If you claim that it is, then one can use your argument to justify tailgating as a safe driving behavior.
If they're in a clump of traffic, their movement options are reduced.
Not if other vehicles are in front of them. Especially if the ones in front have higher profile vehicles. That's why I don't like driving behind SUVs and tractor trailers.
Not if simple laws of line of sight don't allow them to see the obstacle as soon as they would otherwise would have.
That doesn't negate the fact that it's advisable for me to check for red light runners before proceeding on a green light.
Mirror, Signal, Maneuver.
AFAIK, there are plenty of places in CO that have steep grades (much like here in WV).
Speed, like position needs to change continuously as traffic conditions change. Driving at the same speed regardless of the number of cars building around oneself is nothing short of stupid.
If there is a pack of traffic catching up with me, I speed up by 5 mph so that I don't get caught up in a pack.
People who aren't willing to adjust their speed to conditions always end up in clumps. Then there are drivers, who for some odd reason, latch on to other drivers (i.e., a duckling imprinting on its mother).
If traffic would keep right except to pbutt, then these clumps would not last very long, even if they formed at all.
I don't like keeping the same pace with other traffic. I need to go faster or slower so that I don't stay in proximity to the same vehicle for too long. This is because they interfere with my visibility to some extent and reduce my options should the need to make an evasive maneuver arise.
Let's get off this notion that there are speeders going 25 to 30 mph faster than traffic when traffic is bumper to bumper. It just doesn't happen.
The fact is that staying in close proximity to other vehicles (whether it's side by side, 15 feet off the rear bumper) is not safe.
I reread that post and realized that I was thinking it said something that it didn't say. Let me rephrse the question so that we're both clear on what I meant.
Do you feel that what the NJ officers did on I-81 was unsafe? Why or why not? Keep in mind that they were using their emergency lights and they did not appear to be weaving through traffic.
