Gotta get in front of that lorry

The average weight of a family car is 1500 to 1800 kgs has 4 wheels and takes 240 ft to stop at 60 mph, my lorry has 14 Wheels, is 44000 kgs and takes 280 ft to stop at 55 mph , now it don't take a maths graduate to work out I would be sitting in the boot of the car if it had to brake in an emergency, so why is it an everyday occurrence that a car will fill the Gap I leave for safety, slipways off motorways are the worst but by no means the exception, approaching traffic lights,roundabouts,end of duel carriageways, anywhere they get the chance to use the phrase (gotta get in front of that lorry)
Some years ago ( almost pre puberty ) (the ma in law used to say i never grew up) I was a lorry drivers mate ( heavy plant) and I slept almost all day whilst traveling, I'm pleased to say the driver stayed awake, which I'm sorry to say is not always the case, I've had noddy dog syndrome a couple of times and then pulled into a lay bye for 40 winks then another 40 sometimes, only time i woke up was the braking to avoid the odd boy racer (those mark 1 cortina,s were fast) the problem of getting in front wasn't so bad then as the opportunity to overtake wasn't so good, cars were a lot slower then, I'm sure life was easier for a driver then ( cars and lorries alike)
Life was certainly a lot slower back in the 60s.
How I wish these cars wouldn't rush headlong into situations where they could end up
In hospital or worse,  and if  you think the lorry behind is to close it's probably because the driver is fed up with leaving the safety zone for someone who should have got up 10 minutes earlier