ADUK Archive

Here is another theory on the frustrated follower, some drivers cannot judge the speed of the vehicle they are following and rely on brake lights to tell them when to slow down. If you are planing ahead and using accelerator sense you will be able to slow down gradually without using the brakes and therefor not showing brake lights, the follower may have been trying to misinform you that your vehicles brake lights were not working.

I have often noticed the behavior of such a following driver as my favorite car has a low final drive meaning that if I am driving at 50mph and were to lift off the accelerator, my cars speed will drop a lot quicker than a heavier and higher geared modern car. On the approach to a hazard where I will likely have to stop I normally reduce speed by gradually releasing the accelerator and only using the brakes to stop from 5mph. In some cases a following driver may not be able to understand why they are gaining on my car as they rely on brake lights and do not know how to plan an approach to a hazard, to help them sometimes when I am reducing power I will push the brake pedal with my left foot to activate the brake lights but not hard enough to engage the brakes, once I reach 5mph I can quickly release the brake pedal, move my left foot to the clutch and start braking with my right foot. This may not be a recommended procedure but it can sometimes help a sub-standard driver and improve safety.

MiniClubmanEstate wrote:Here is another theory on the frustrated follower, some drivers cannot judge the speed of the vehicle they are following and rely on brake lights to tell them when to slow down.

Google 'looming' - it's often very difficult to see the small changes in a vehicle's apparent 'size - especially with a smaller one.

If the right foot has lifted off the accelerator then why not 'feather' the brake pedal - It puts the brake lights on as a warning without activating the brakes - I do this a lot if the vehicle behind is not responding to my easing off.

ROG wrote:If the right foot has lifted off the accelerator then why not 'feather' the brake pedal - It puts the brake lights on as a warning without activating the brakes - I do this a lot if the vehicle behind is not responding to my easing off.

That is partially what I do, just with my left foot in instances where I am slowing down but still with some pressure on the accelerator. With my Mini's engine setup the way it is simply lifting right off the accelerator would result in very sudden and rough deceleration.

michael769 wrote:Are you sure that he was actually tooting at you?

Pretty sure. He gave me a glare as he passed on the left about 5 minutes later. (Yes. Very slow traffic.)

Speaking to the what has been said about lifting off the accelerator: My current car has CVT gearbox, which to those who don't know is basically an automatic gear box with no set gear ratios; it can chose any ratio it likes. Now the result of this is that if you lift off the accelerator the car will gradually slow to 5 mph without use of the brakes, because it just works its way down the 'gears'. This is what I normally do on approaching stationary traffic. The slowing isn't harsh at all, but I could imagine some people might be confused to the lack of brake lights as a cue to tell them I'm slowing down. I would like to show them my brake lights if I can, but I don't believe I can press my brake pedal to such a point where the lights come on but the car doesn't slow any faster. (This might have something to do with the transmission electronics.)

Personally I've got into the habit of ignoring brake lights of the cars in front. I ask myself how fast they are slowing, what is happening ahead of them, are they likely to need to slow faster, am I gaining on them, etc etc. Then I decide if I need to slow.

Jasp wrote:My current car has CVT gearbox

Hmm. I wonder what you could be driving? Has it also got regenerative braking?

kfae8959 wrote:Hmm. I wonder what you could be driving? Has it also got regenerative braking?

No. It is just an Audi A6.

CVT is fabulous going down hills. If it detects you don't want to go any faster it will engage engine braking. I usually just hit the cruise control button and it locks your speed with fanatical accuracy even if the rev have to go sky high to hold you back. No sitting on that middle peddle.