How to avoid getting rear-ended
 

The international defensive driver training company I worked for taught that rear crashes are actually one of the "easier" ones to avoid, and students were drilled with numerous strategies for doing so.

I was rear ended at a red light. Partially my fault, though no insurance company would ever say so. I was going to make a right on red at a city intersection with buildings set five feet back from the road. I wasn't watching my rear view, and I came up on the intersection pretty fast - 7mph or so. I had to spike my brakes because some guy was flying through his green light at 15mph over the speed limit, and BAM! 6000lbs of steel accelerated my little golf cart from 0-10mph in zero seconds. No damage aside from the bumper.

I no longer turn right on red at that intersection, to the immense annoyance of the locals.

So that's how you can get into a rear-end collision. Metro, how do you avoid them?

I would like to know how, because I don't see how either of the ones I had could have been avoided by anything I could have done.

1) Left turn lane off a busy 4-lane highway, I'm last of about 10 cars waiting, stopped behind a large pickup. Guy coming up behind has his attention on the pickup, crunches me.

2) Freeway interchange, I move into the exit lane, traffic ahead slows to a stop. I do too (or I would have hit the guy in front), guy behind me doesn't.

So how do I avoid either of those? Or indeed, the classic stopped at the red light, idiot behind talking on cell and doesn't notice the light or the stopped cars?

I'd say it would be 1. always have an awareness and plan for an escape route to dart into and 2. always have an awareness via frequent rear view mirror checks if something is bearing down on you.

So in the case of #1, I had a concrete divider on the left, a stream of 50-60 mph traffic on the right. Lots of room for an escape route there. Of course I could have driven 10 miles further, made a right turn off the highway, through an underpass, and back about 12 miles on 2-lane road to get to a destination a couple of hundred yards from the turnoff.

As to having an awareness of what's coming at you in the rear view mirror, what good does that do in most situations? If you're at a light, with cars in front and to either side, there really isn't anything you can do - not to mention that at best you'd have maybe half a second to realize that the oncoming Bozo isn't just intent on showing how sharply s/he can brake :-)

I have been rearended 3 times and no damage from any of them, even with my cheap insta break plastic bumpers. Its about spacing, warning and how you react during the crunch. I hit the gas with the wheels cranked, got a tap then braked hard, and I just hit the curb (not something you are supposed to do but no one there) and avoided hitting the car in front of me on the side. I got hit at approx 25mph. I always watch behind me at lights. The other times letting off the brakes just prior to being hit then braking worked well.

If any of you have ever been to MN you will note that at many stoplights, especially in cities, everybody parks diagonally in the lane with a fairly sizable gap at lights. If thats a hint.

I would swurve into the concrete divider as the car hit me if the speeds were not great, it would minimize the potential damage done correctly, especially if your going to be launched into traffic.
Its worked in every situation I've encountered. Even in situations where you ARE going to hit something you can minimize the damage to yourself by reacting correctly. Also sideswipes usually minimize the number of cars involved (at least if you care)

I've experienced that leaving a proper gap allows for up to a 25mph crash without massive issues, needless to say if your car is 4ft away from the one ahead of you, you are asking for it.

...anybody remember the 'old' Driver's Ed "rule-of-thumb" of leaving one car-length between you and the car in front of you for every 10 mph?

...granted in bumper-to-bumper LA-"rush-hour" traffic at 60+ mph, it's impossible, but that's what you get for driving LA...or Phoenix, or....

Sure, but exactly how does this apply when none of the cars are moving?

As for leaving multiple car lengths between cars when you're in a turn lane, think about what happens if everyone does that. You have a long tailback creating a hazard as cars wanting to turn can't get into the turn lane, and stop in the travel lane.

The one rearending I got, was shortly after a light, traffic had just gotten back up to speed @45mph, when the car in front of the car in front of me braked hard to make a left.

The car in front of me had to brake hard in order to avoid rearending the car in front of him. When I hit my brakes I also looked in my rear veiw mirror, the car behind me was well far enough back that he could stop easily, so I continued just avoiding the person in front of me. I came to a near stop (the cars in front of me were still moving slowly) about 10 feet from the guy in front of me, they began to speed up so as I was moving my foot from the brake to the gas I hear a squeek just before the impact. Approx 30-40mph impact, wasn't fun.

The only way I would have known what was if I had focused my attention on the rearview mirror, in which case I would have not been paying as much attention to what was going on in front of me.

I have been able to avoid a few rear-endings by paying attention, one the person was riding my tail, If I stopped for the light that had just changed they would have hit me, so I ran it, so did they.

Another one I saw a car coming up fast when I was stopping at the stop light, I pulled up into the cross walk instead of behind the line to give them extra room, missed by about a foot.