Do you practice safe following distance.

[WildKat]

Anyone who's taken the MSF course specifically, knows it teaches you to use landmarks ahead of you to quickly calculate safe following distances between yourself and the vehicle in front of you to alot yourself time to react to obstacles in the road, or sudden occurences involving vehicles in front of you, etc.

Do you also practice safe following distances or do you tend to push the limits alittle bit, especially when your riding hard?

[duff daddy]

i useually dont ride that close to cars for hte shier fact that i dont wanna get pummled with rocks but in my car i do ride peoples asses but ah, in pa they have these STUPID dots on the road and when tehy are painted ont he road yoru suppose to stay 2 dots apart, and some how every time i go by them damn dots, a cop drops out of the sky and its on the side of the road lol

[WildKat]

Those painted dots are also quite slippery when it rains too!

[Dan Dubeau]

We had those on a stretch of highway here, only ours were big chevrons. Funny thing was that they were just far enough apart that as soon as you put 2 between you and the car in front of you, someone else cut in. It was a perpetual game that i used to play. See how long i could stay at 2 chevrons before someone cut in. I think my record is around 1.2 milliseconds

as for the original question. I tend to follow closer than i should. It's a bad habit I need to break. Although i only do it when i'm on the bike

[Macka]

I always try to keep a good distance, so that I can see hazards in the road. The roads here are very poor, and are full of crater-sized potholes. We have had a long hard winter and they are torn up something awful from the plows.

There are potholes here that are large and long enough that they can swallow a good portion of your front wheel, catch an edge, and wrench the bike out from under you. No exaggeration.

[woobie]

I've caught myself following closer than I should, passing the slow poke usually solves the problem .

[Crackshot]

most of the time, I only close distance right before I pass.

[SlipKid]

I'm pretty much a tailgater when I can't get around. Except for big-rigs of course b/c they can throw big hunks of tire at you.

[tzortn]

Personally I think that tailgating is one of the most dangerous things that you can do on the rode regardless if you are on a bike or a in a car. I make it a point to maintain a safe distance. I actually like the marks that they add to some roads to help people maintain a safe distance. I just wish more people would listen. It would avoid a lot of accidents and traffic tie ups.

I have been known to throw a brake check or two in my time. I also have no issue slowing down to the speed limit when I have somone riding my tail.

[md86]

I've noticed that the farther north I go , the more people seem to like tailgating . Yeah , if there's room (ie , your safe following distance) , some goob WILL cut in there . Not as bad around here for that sorta thing , but it still happens . Brake checks , slowing down , wiper spray , I've used em all . I ALWAYS try to keep a good distacne . It's saved my a$$ a few times .

[The CyberPoet]

I guess it depends on how wired or tired I am, but I haven't had an accident where I rear-ended someone with an MC ever... and not with a car since I was 17 (and suffering serious illness while in rush to final exams for my first semester in college).

I firmly believe in the two second rule as minumum, in as much as it takes about 1.2 seconds for the average alert driver to process brake lights, process the info and send a signal to their hand to start squeezing the brake... And that's if they're looking at the brake lights in the first place.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Mojoe]

i useually dont ride that close to cars for hte shier fact that i dont wanna get pummled with rocks but in my car i do ride peoples asses but ah, in pa they have these STUPID dots on the road and when tehy are painted ont he road yoru suppose to stay 2 dots apart, and some how every time i go by them damn dots, a cop drops out of the sky and its on the side of the road lol

That 2 dot apart rule is kind of worthless in my opinion. Speed plays an important factor in the distance you should leave between you and the guy in front. Those dots are not going to work the same at 50mph as 80mph. The general rule is one car length for each 10mph. So if you are travelling at 50mph, there should be 5 car lenghts between vehicles. Albiet that rule was made many years ago when cars did not brake as efficiently as they do today, and no one follows this rule, but it should give you a general idea.

A word of warning to you tailgaters....if you ever come up on a black volvo 850 glt with Quebec plates, keep your ass back, cuz I will make you shit your pants. If there is one thing I can not stand, that is someone tailgating me. It is probably the one thing in the world that annoys me the most. I will lock up the brakes if I am annoyed enough. I have done it many times and freaked out many drivers...and hopefully taught them a lesson. I was rearended once from it many years ago. It was an american who was partying in canada just across the border cuz of the lower drinking age. I got out of my car, reached in his open window and grabbed him by the collar. I punched him 4 times in the face. Once for each word out of my mouth..."don't fucking tailgate me"! He got his car started and headed back across the border with a smashed in grill. I reported him for hit and run and my insurance covered it. of course it wasn't really hit and run....more like run for his life. things were different back then....rough saturday nights. I would never do anything like that today...hitting i mean. i knew the guy....sort of. his gang of buddies had trouble with my gang of buddies a few times.
SERIOUSLY....I don't care what you are driving, I will hit the brakes. I will give you a chance to pass first though....if I can. I do not tailgate and I HATE being tailgated....with a passion.

[md86]

I firmly believe in the two second rule as minumum, in as much as it takes about 1.2 seconds for the average alert driver to notice brake lights, process the info and send a signal to their hand to start squeezing the brake...

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

Provided the driver in front of you HAS brake lights ...

[ghost]

most of the time, I only close distance right before I pass.

That is exactly what I do... And I also vowed to myself that I would only pass vehicles going way under the speed limit.....

[Katgirl]

I always leave a large gap, even in the Jeep as my breaking distance is more with the big tires on. Nick is bad for tailing people in his car, he's good about it on his bike though.