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)

Oh yeah, I wasn't questioning the usefulness of the horn in situations where you anticipate danger - just noting that the message is not always received by the other driver.

Interesting link about determining percentages.

When I was driving semi trucks, I was taught not to stop so close that you can't see where the tires touch the road on the car in front of you. In most cases this should give the idiot in front of you time to realize their error.

Kirk

Kirk -

I like that rule. I am going to apply it and see how it goes.

CarloSW2

LOL, of course if you coast properly to the light the potential for this situation is drastically reduced.

regards
Mech

My driving instructor was the same way! He said to stop where the car's tires apeared to sit on your hood but no closer. I have not ran into any issue with someone backing up excpet to give a semi room for a left turn, which most people should be able to see and give way.

Same here about learning to drive any vehicle. If everyone did this we could all depart the light at the same moment. It means even more if someone rear ends you. Saved me once that did.

I would just hope for a different lane, or I would pull to right shoulder if possible; would try to abort a left turn lane scene as the odds are not too friendly. But life often is not too perfect.
As in the garbage truck story, there should be adequate evidence of which veh. was crusher/crushee.

In summary, don't trust anybody! On a motorcycle, you could be dead; fast!

I have a close relative who at 86, powerbrakes the snot out of vehicles, and when backing out of normal spaces in parking lots, takes so long back and forth, only half
knowing what directional gear, or neutral position their tranny is in at any given moment, that they are honked at by other elderly patients who simply want to pass through the parking lot of a nationally known insurance based medical clinic!

It's a real trip to ride w such a person!

Be on guard! There's no lack of weirdness out there!!!

Slam on the horn and yeah, I was taught that same thing about seeing the bottoms of the tires when I was in driving school.

But why would someone be in reverse at a stop light? I could see neutral, and even park if you turn the engine off, but reverse? Unless it was a mistake, like they thought they were in N but were in R and weren't paying attention.... which sounds like something half the drivers around here (SoCal) would do.

The most sensible choice - always leave a gap when stopped or moving. It gives the idiot in front, behind or to the side - and the idiot that is us behind the wheel - time to make a mistake and either react to it or correct it.

Defensive driving - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i've made that mistake in my 6 speed pontiac vibe (toyota matrix). Reverse is just to the left of first and has an irritating beep. Funny the beep didn't register to me, I just stopped as soon as the car started moving the wrong direction.