On Wed, 05 Feb 2014 10:32:58 -0600, Swingman wrote:

On 2/5/2014 8:58 AM, John Grossbohlin wrote:

More of an observation than a opinion: Four wheel drive, anti-lock
brakes, stability control, improvements in tires, etc. have given folks
an unwarranted sense of confidence. Another case of technology leading
to lost skills...

Tailgating is something you used to rarely see on the roads around here,
now it's epidemic.

Well, turn signals have gone the other way. Now you see THEM rarely.
When schools used to actually teach it, driver's ed classes had a simple
formula for estimating a safe distance between you and the car in front
of you: one car length for every ten mph of speed on a dry road, add 1
or 1 for other road conditions.

With the congestion, today, there aren't the roads to maintain that
distance. Sad, but a fact of life.

My youngest daughter was instead taught the ‘Two Second Rule’ when she
took DE.

Problem is ‘The Two Second Rule’ requires more math skills to calculate
... and schools no longer teach math skills.

The other problem is that if you do keep a safe distance between you and
the car in front of you, some Asshat will immediately occupy it.

See above. ;-)

IOW, I'll go with the "stupider" theory...

Yep.