People accelerating slowly from stops.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
631
Why is it that at so many lights I can't even get through them because it takes people over ten seconds to get it up to 40?

Cars have more power than ever yet every day I see a bunch of drivers take their sweet time getting up to speed. Most of the time the light turns back to red before I even get through.

You're not being safe, you're just being an idiot. People act like their engine will explode if it goes over 3K rpm. I blame CVTs. They see higher rpms (better) and think they're giving it too much gas.
 
No, they think they are riving sensibly and efficient. Which they aren't. They have never heard of throttle loss...

Open the throttle pretty far (but not full, to avoid excess enrichment), get her up to speed quickly, then coast and maintain speed. That is how you efficiently drive a petrol engine.

But people do not know that.
 
So true, drives me nuts. Go!!!

I'm in a loaner Hyundai Kona from the dealer right now with only 147hp, and I can still make it across the intersection before most people without feeling like I'm driving hard. Same with merging on the freeway, GO!!!

Heck, even when I'm driving the 70' VW Beetle I'm still usually the first across the intersection.
 
No, they think they are riving sensibly and efficient. Which they aren't. They have never heard of throttle loss...

Open the throttle pretty far (but not full, to avoid excess enrichment), get her up to speed quickly, then coast and maintain speed. That is how you efficiently drive a petrol engine.

But people do not know that.
:LOL:
 
Why should I jam my throttle down just to please you?

Patience is a virtue, especially when driving.
I do agree with your last statement, but some drivers over do it. Recently, I missed the green light with ONLY one vehicle in front of me - a white work van that looked like Buffalo Bill’s...and that was at 530am.

C’mon!
 
This is very annoying, I'd like to make it through the light too! It's especially bad when trying to make a left turn when you have to yield to oncoming traffic, car ahead pokes through when 2-3 cars could have made it through the gaps in traffic.
 
I find it varies by region. Just parts of the country and world just take their sweet time to get on the gas when the light turns green.
 
At least some know the light turned green....my spouse considers a red light time to look around, dream, etc. I have to constantly tell her to go. She used to drive a school bus and they taught her to put it in neutral to save the clutch and throw-out brg. So when she had a manual car she did the same-except when she finally noticed the lite was green she would push in the clutch and immediately cram it into gear, grinding away.........Now people are honking, I'm slumping down in my seat embarassed. I 've tried to educate her on the clues to watch for with the other visible lights, and the sequences........Riding motorcycles most of my life you learn to get out of the way. Oh-her ride cannot coast either. There is no pedal for that.!!
 
I drive off smartly on a green light but what I won't do for anybody is race up to the end of the queue at a red light. It seems to annoy some people even though they are not being held up in any real sense. The tell tale mark of an inefficient driver is the brake lights flashing on all the time.
 
I'm usually rolling before the car in front of me is, and get quite annoyed if I have to hit my horn as the fools are looking at their phones. If I am in pole position, I'm waiting for the cross traffic green light to go yellow.

However I am not going to stomp on gas pedal just to get to next redlight quicker , just so someone behind me can stop and check their phone all that much quicker. But it depends on if there are two lanes or not.

It's the delay in movement that causes fewer people to get through lights, not the rate of acceleration once they have started moving, most of the time.

My friends father, well before cell phones, would wait until the car in front of him moved no less than two car lengths away, before taking his foot off the brake. Annoyed the living snot out of me then, well before I got my license. I'd be like: "Mr B the lights green", wondering if he was having a stroke or something. His kids do the same. I can't stand their approach to driving. Delayed starts and get into the left lane no matter what. Turning right two blocks up, and they get in the left lane then curse when they can't easily get in the right lane to turn and call all the other drivers stupid.
 
I deal with this regularly on my daily commute - one longish stretch of roadway (1.5 miles) with a 35 MPH speed limit the lights are timed just right that if someone accelerates normally they should hit at least 10 of the 12 stoplights, normal+ acceleration you can hit all the greens and be on your way. One person dilly dallying will shorten that to hitting 4-5 greens which then just stacks ups everyone behind, then there are the people who go under the speed limit where you hit every single red.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top