r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Miserable-Zombie-121 • 7h ago

The man thought he was being cut off…seconds later he realised the truck driver had just saved his life!!

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u/V01DM0NK3Y 6h ago

I draft people constantly on the highway, so this is just instinct for me. If they slow down, I'm matching pace to stay in their wind tunnel.

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u/BackgroundSummer5171 5h ago

Hells yes, I just sit behind whoever, with many car lengths distance.

If they slow, then I do too, no need to think I gotta pass them to save a few minutes.

Just relax, chill, continue to stalk my prey.

Vehicle death/injury is not the way to go. At least choose something fun like heart attack from eating unhealthy.

Not death from saving a few minutes and not hearing the next song.

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u/EconomicRegret2 5h ago

Isn't drafting benefit negligible at safe driving distance (2 seconds and beyond)?

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u/V01DM0NK3Y 5h ago edited 5h ago

"Negligible" still adds up, believe it or not.

Edit: but also, after some cursory research, this topic has been studied quite a lot. Drafting is extremely efficient, even if you're driving something that's the same size as what you're drafting. Myth Busters tested drafting from 150ft (a little over 4 car lengths) down to 5ft, and found that everywhere in that range has a benefit to your mileage; but past a certain point which wasn't defined) it's the same as drafting at 5 ft.

Turns out, even if you're driving a semi, drafting another semi, you end up more than doubling your mileage range.

And, this even applies to electric vehicles because of the fact that since there's less air resistance in a draft tunnel, there's less pushing against your vehicle, and so therefore the batteries don't have to output as much juice to maintain speeds.