Mitigating the dangers of manual train driving

[JackGruff]

I've noticed something that crops up when I manually drive a locomotive: If I stop quicker than a train behind me can before jumping a red light, then they rear end me. What's more concerning is that trains don't let off the throttle after a collision.

Some solutions / ideas:

• Auto trains give manual trains a wider berth, with manual trains taking up an invisible large block around them. This safe space can be proportional to how quickly the manual train can come to a stop.
• Trains do not keep trying to accelerate on collision. They stop, switch to manual, and alert the owner.

[Tekky]

Related threads:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=53533 Manual trains, predictions?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=42694 Half automatic / half manual train driving
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=49850 Locomotive mode: Manual with assist

[Rseding91]

Automatic trains purposefully don't attempt to do any smarts: they only respect the rail signals. If they hit something they keep driving until it is dead or they are dead.

That's not likely to ever change. If you don't want trains to hit your manual mode train: don't drive the train in manual mode.

[Nidan]

Actually, the train following you is the one that can (and will) stop in time, even if you stop instantly.
The problem is trains crossing or joining your path, as these have a signal already reserved by them (yellow) turn red.
A solution could be to handle the manual train similar to an automatic train, i.e. have a virtual train head at braking distance that reserves tracks for the manual train. Since the game doesn't know which way the manual train will go when crossing switches, it should reserve all possible paths. Now the manual train will be safe as long it observes the signals.
Only problem: Currently signals are great for players outside the train, i.e. "Can I cross the tracks?", but terrible for train drivers. Automatic trains will only ever cross yellow signals (= reserved by you), manual ones (currently / without above proposal) will never see yellow, but having yellow as an indication for "red signal ahead", like irl, would be needed for a manual train driver.