Reverse lights: how would you react?
 

For some reason this popped into my head today, and I'm curious how others would react in this situation:

You are stopped at a red light (I know, it's rare :D ) and the car ahead of you appears to be in reverse. The light is about to turn green, and you are afraid that the driver will hit the throttle hard and back up into your car.

What do you do to prevent this?

Feel bad for them, trucks have big steel bumpers ;)

I've had it happen. Looked behind me to see if I had any room. Put it in reverse to back up if necessary. When they started to move backwards I hit the horn and they stopped coming back into me.

When I am sitting at a light I always check my rear, been hit in the rear several times.
One time I pulled my 59 Corvette off into the median to the left, and the driver who was going to plough into my arse thanked me for getting out of his way.

Good reason to give yourself some room between yourself and the car in front of you.

regards
Mech

At the very first sign of any backward motion I'd lean on the horn continually and hope the idiot isn't deaf as well as dumb. There is no shortage of idiots in America today.

Actually a scenario I do see frequently is that of vehicles with non functional reverse lights. It's a danger because it's hard to realize they are backing up. I often see it while I'm on foot in shopping mall parking lots. I usually try to tell the driver of it, but often they don't seem to care.

This actually happened to my wife.
A garbage truck was slightly lost and backed up at a stop sign to go a different way.
Big fuss insued in front of church.
Of course they said she rolled into THEM.
Fortunately her Saturn SL2 had foam bumpers.
It showed the impact was at an angle. Officer places his night stick in the caved in area straight then at an angle.
"Well, either you boys backed into her or Ma'am, you have one heck of a pull when you brake !"

Their story changed quickly and paid for a new bumper cover.


Footnote:
Yes, she laid on the horn. Can't hear that from behind in a trash truck.

Workfare = idiots with jobs.

...I've often thought exactly the same thing about some of our elected officials (ha,ha)!

Heh, the horn seems like the most immediate response. My only thought is that drivers that are first car at a light may interpret a horn to mean "hurry - you're wasting my time!" - resulting in a quick acceleration...backwards. On the other hand, it may have the desired effect of bringing their attention to the actual problem.

I took this one step further and asked myself a related question.

Which would be better in this situation: backing up as far away from the car as possible - giving the driver more reaction time to stop (but also allowing them to be at a greater speed in the case of a collision), OR driving right up to their bumper - practically tapping it - to eliminate the chance of them speeding into you, but increasing the chance of a little bumper to bumper contact?

I leaned on the horn and promptly got hit. I should have used that time to put my truck in reverse, as there was no one behind me. At least the guy had insurance and my truck got a new hood, grille and radiator. Yes, his delivery truck was higher than my truck's bumper.

That is the legitimate purpose of using the horn - to warn of impending danger.

That is why I suggested that you would need to wait until you see some motion backwards, towards you.

Backing up is fine as long as there is no one behind you. But if there is, you are merely repeating the situation created by the car in front of you. Driving right up to their bumper is a no-no. The law does not require you to take extraordinary measures to prevent a collision. Often it is better to let the other party crash into you if they are totally at fault. If you contribute to the collision in any way you will contribute to the comparative negligence. (click here)