[sendler]

Mention the word drafting and you immediately get extreme reactions. It conjures up an image of throwing a hook over the next guys bumper but you don't have to be that dangerously close. There is still some great free air to be had behind big trucks at the rational distance of 40 meters. You don't have to be "right behind" the next vehicle. It is described right in the EcoModders hypermiling tips to drive in a "wind corridor of traffic". Following (or drafting) is not dangerous if done wisely. I have been commuting for 22 years, 80 miles a day, 80% highway. 300,000 miles of following and the worst incidents are three stone chips. I always choose to follow a big truck as my guardian.
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Yeah. It's great to sit home on the computer and fool yourself that you always drive by some arbitrary rule of thumb. Anyone that drives a divided highway during rush hour highway traffic has learned the reality of it. 30 meters following distance is accepted as normal and safe by EVERYONE out there. Drop back farther than this and someone else takes your spot. Drop back again and they cut in again. It is impossible to maintain a "two second gap". No one on the road wants it. It is a consensus. Complainers of drafting need to come in from Utopia and look at their own experience and they will see that they too follow at 30 meters regularly but just don't want to remember about it now because it doesn't fit their argument. True, some jerks weave back and forth at 30 feet and this is dangerous but 30 meters is completely normal. All day long. Every day.
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If 30 meters behind cars in traffic is ok then 40 meters behind a big truck that is mass anchored to make changes of speed and direction more slowly, on an open road, is safe. Safer than leading out on an open road by yourself wherever there are deer crossing. I feel much safer with a blocker/ guardian in front of me. They are pros and drive millions of miles per year. They sit up much higher and can see even better in bad weather. My lights work better off the back of their rig like it is day. Their actions and reactions show you advanced warnings of hazards 80 feet before you would have seen them and, you can actually see all the way up and under their front bumper anyway. Their big tires temporarily plow a clear path on the pavement from snow and standing water so I have a better surface to drive on. Hypermilers drive slower than average so now it is nice that people coming up behind you are already planning to move around the truck from much father back and don't blame you for being "some slow guy in the way". Let's change the term from drafting to following. Maybe this will alleviate some of the sour taste that seems to spit up anytime it is mentioned. Following a big truck at 40 meters is safer than driving alone and you can save 10% of the worlds remaining gas.