• mondoman712@lemmy.mlOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    126
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    But this is what happens. Every rush hour the roads are packed with cars, mostly just with one person in them, while the trains are actually full.

    • PonyOfWar@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      51
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      During rush hour you definitely won’t have a distance of 10 meters between each car though.

      • mondoman712@lemmy.mlOP
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        38
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        If they’re moving there should be, and if not it doesn’t seem fair to me to compare transport to a car park.

      • schroedingershat@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        20
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        If the cars are moving at over 5m/s then there will be for minimum safe followong distance.

        If they are moving under that, you don’t have a transport system that is more capable than a brisk walk.

        • Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          5 m/s is 18kph or ~11mph.

          40kph safe stopping distance is 26 meters dry, 30 meters wet. I can’t even find data below 40 kph, but 10m would be reaction time alone (no bake time)

            • Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              Average speed yes, but I doubt anyone is doing 8mph.

              It’s likely they drive closer to 20 mph (needing a larger safe distance) then stop at lights (needing no safe distance, but probably 3-5m if you have the driving school of thought to be able to have an exit at all times). Then there is all the space occupied by the intersections themselves. These would further space out cars, bringing the average length of X cars higher.

              These are all guesses based on my local knowledge, I have been to London in close to a decade, and I did not drive there.

          • schroedingershat@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Generally guidance for “safe” following distance is to be able to stop before you hit a car that is also stopping with the assumption that the car ahead is stopping at the same rate. So 2 seconds of headway between cars (roughly reaction time alone). Obviously this does not give enough time if the car ahead has a head on collision or similar (but the third car will collide at lower speed and the fourth might stop).

            Most traffic is a little closer together than this (hence the prevalence of pile ups), but there is also uneven speed and gaps at traffic lights and similar

        • icedcoffee@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          You’re making good points and all but I keep reading your username as SchrodingerShat

      • pkulak@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Sure, but only because they aren’t moving. It should be about the distance traveled in a couple seconds. Less then that and you get a lot of wrecks, so brand new problems.