[wolrah]

> The problem with unhitching at speed follows naturally from the problem with close following: the moment you unhitch, you are now following too closely behind another train, and you cannot stop in time if something bad happens to it.

If you are unhitching though wouldn't your former train have been just as likely to hit whatever the now-unhitched component in front might be about to hit?

Basically the only scenario where I can see this realistically being an issue would be if the car(s) being unhitched were already on the edge of stability to the point that being unhitched was the straw that broke the camel's back and they then immediately crashed in front of the now separated unit following.