Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
Ah, assumptions, aren't they grand.It's like the old "trying to describe an elephant to a blind man" story. Until you've experienced bumper to bumper 80+ MPH flow, with 10-15 MPH no reason choke points, right back to 80+ MPH traffic of LA, San Diego, Houston or several other major metropolitan areas; I understand your not understanding.
There is NO SUCH THING as leaving more distance in front of you: it immediately is filled, you once again have no distance in front, and as you try to increase your distance in front you will be run over from behind. As long as there is no space in front of you to the left or right you are safe in the middle. Don't believe me you are welcome to join me in LA for a few days schooling.
Tom
I have experienced it, in L.A., many times, by motorcycle. Strangely enough, I have even followed two CHP officers lane splitting through L.A. in conditions very similar to what you describe, which seems to be normal conditions there. I wasn't in the lead and didn't know that they were CHP. When I realized it, I thought that we were going to get fines for something, but we didn't.
Regardless of all that, I didn't offer an opinion about the merrits or dangers of lane splitting. I responded to the scenario described, which was a vehicle hitting the vehicle in front of it before coming to a stop. The distance required to stop without invading the space occupied by the vehicle in front of it is a matter of physics, regardless of how inconvenient those physics may be or how much those around you want you to ignore them.