In message , Cynic
writes
>On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:05:40 +0100, Norman Wells
> wrote:
>
>>>>Then show me how you can drive within the overall stopping distance from
>>>>the vehicle in front, and still be able to stop 'well within the
>>>>distance you can see to be clear', which obviously only extends up to
>>>>that vehicle's rear end.
>
>>>No, it doesn't. That part is talking about *unexpected* objects that
>>>might be in the road. It does not mean clear of other same-direction
>>>traffic.
>
>>And where exactly does it say that?
>
>It doesn't have to, because it is so obvious.
A lot of people here seem to be inclined to put words into the Highway
Code when it suits them, and to omit them when it doesn't. And you're
one of them.
Can we please stick to what it actually says, which is:
"Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance
you can see to be clear. You should leave enough space between you and
the vehicle in front so that you can pull up safely if it suddenly slows
down or stops. The safe rule is never to get closer than the overall
stopping distance"
The road ahead of you is NOT clear if it contains a vehicle, regardless
of whether it is travelling in your direction or not. If the Highway
Code meant you to ignore same direction traffic, it would have said so,
but it doesn't because it didn't. It didn't because most people who are
involved in an accident are in collision with same direction traffic,
and it would be a ridiculous oversight if it didn't include that in its
orders and recommendations.
It also mentions the situation where the vehicle in front of you
'suddenly' stops. That includes the situation where it hits one of your
ubiquitous airborne concrete blocks. If you are travelling closer to
that vehicle than your overall stopping distance, you WILL hit it. It's
physics, you see, and immutable laws of nature.
It also says the safe rule is never to get closer than the overall
stopping distance. The implication of that is that if you drive any
closer, you are not being safe.
Regrettably, you are not interpreting the Highway Code by notionally
adding words to it such as 'ignoring same direction traffic' as you have
postulated, but deliberately, misleadingly and dangerously
misinterpreting it.
--
Norman Wells
NG
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