I often see people stop short of the car in front, and then eventually
close up. I suspect they stop short becasue they are being cautious.
For people with automatics, closing up is no big deal, just ease off
the brakes. For manual transmission drivers, more work, and wear and
tear on the clutch is involved.

I don't get particualrly worked up about gaps, but I do try to minimize
them myself. I do wish people would watch the light and keep moving
through intersections when the light turns green. A number of the
lights in my area change as soon as they see a gap in the traffic. This
is particuarly true for left turn arrows. I have noticed that quite a
few lights are very sensitive to gaps. As long as cars are steadily
moving past the detector loop, the light will stay green for a long
time, however, as soon as there is a significant gap (as little as 1
car length), the light immeadiately changes back to yellow, then red.

I tend to get more worked up by the uber drivers that try to take
advantage of minor gaps to cut in line. I have to make a left turn onto
a entrance ramp to I-40 on my way home from work. It is very common for
cars to try and cut into the left turn lane at the last minute, often
wedging into the gaps (sometimes small gaps) between cars that have
been patiently waiting for the light to change. One day last week, I
even saw an idiot in a Honda create a second left turn lane. When he
actually got to the ramp he ran the other car onto the shoulder. All
this to save at the most 1 minute - and probably less. Now that was
true MFFY behavior.

Ed