I am not so sure…the Mercedes L3 only works in a traffic jam…so should expect all the vehicles to be bunched up…all traffic in a jam may have a legal obligation to keep their distance…but in the real world any gap is filled no matter how good your intentions…
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Will Mercedes jump to level 3 before Tesla? Looks like it.
- Thread starter vapor trail
- Start date
Do you know what I do when the stopping space is filled in front of me in a traffic jam? I ease off the go-pedal and let the space in front of me grow again.
At least in my city there is not an endless stream of vehicles hell bent on moving in front of my car. There are some that need to move into that space while moving either toward an exit or toward a faster lane, but there I have never, ever, found that letting one car into that space has resulted in two, three, four, five, six, seven eight, nine (you get the drift) cars cutting into the newly made space.
And folks, if those hypothetical vehicles going to slow your trip down by seconds, are hell bent on getting into your lane, they will do so either behind you, or GASP, several cars ahead of you when the lane beside you suddenly starts moving faster than you.
Finally, should Car B following too close to a Car A in front actually hit that vehicle, and you are up tight against Car B, you are not going to be able to easily get around the accident so you'll be stuck even longer. Leaving a decent following distance also means you have the ability to speed up a bit as you make a lane change into the next lane to get around any obstruction, move to a faster lane, or move toward your exit lane. If you are following tightly, if the car in front of you slows as you are shoulder checking to make your move into the next lane, then you stand a good chance of being the person fined for not stopping in time and hitting the car in front of you.
I sometimes wonder if many of the posters here talk about the 'real world' without any actual view of it; they see everything as an obstruction to getting where they are going and have no ability to see the big picture, only what is happening with the few cars directly around them and focusing on stopping those cars from possibly gaining a few second's 'advantage' on the journey. I feel these drivers would be far better off in a Mercedes or any other vehicle with L3 so that they can relax with their hands off the wheel, their eyes off the road, take a break from judging everybody around them and focus on something, anything, else and let the car drive.
In most cities down here, you would be correct, except that you left out something.
I absolutely did NOT leave anything out. I pointed out there was no infinite supply of cars filling in the new space.
Great job with the selective quote!
mgs333
Member
That's great that it works in your area but in Southern or Northern California urban areas, you will constantly get a stream of cars that cut in front of you. (much more so in So Cal)
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
I'm in Northern California Bay Area and I don't experience that. The key thing is travelling the same speed as the car in front. As long as you do that:
1) If your lane is slower, there is no advantage to cutting in front of you and people can easily see that, so don't attempt to do so.
2) If your lane is faster, typically there is still not enough room to safely cut in without you letting off a bit, unless traffic is close to a standstill.
There might be a few cars that do in order to get to an exit or transit to a faster lane adjacent (as other mentioned), but you might get only one or two cars that "permanently" cut in front of you, which is no big deal unless you are the type that being slower by a few seconds matters a lot.
However, a lot of people that leave extra space in front don't keep up with the car in front (basically they are travelling slower than traffic), so they keep getting further and further behind. Those are the people that would have a stream of cars cut in.
The goal is to keep a safe follow distance, not to travel slower than traffic. I personally have my AP distance set to the max 7. The only complaint I have is the reaction time is slow. It takes a while to pick up speed when the traffic has picked up, so I have to accelerator override to keep up with traffic. Otherwise, I'm okay with the follow distance kept during steady state conditions.
Out of curiosity, why does it matter at all that cars change lanes in front of you? So many people here are complaining that people can change lanes in front of them and how terrible that is. Am I missing something?
The theory is that if in a traffic jam you leave room in front to brake safely that gap will fill and eventually you will keep slowing down until you are going backwards
Tam
Well-Known Member
Not a problem if there's enough braking distance in front. The shorter the distance, the more super reflex is needed.
Tam
Well-Known Member
The solution is to slow down or brake when seeing the next lane driver changes the trajectory. To expand the distance in front but risking rear ended.
The solution is to run FSD or Autopilot. They can keep a short distance and act almost instantaneously.
There are many roads in many cities where if you leave a 10 car gap, you will not have any forward motion, Sure I'm exaggerating a little, but not much.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
Nobody is using it. Not a single video of a "civilian" out there.
I doubt that. More likely that the few owners who cough up the money to buy a Mercedes with the Drive Pilot and the driver assistance subscription likely aren't the youtube type.
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