Three Guidelines to Ensure a Safe Following Distance
We’ve all seen vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed on the expressway, as though one were drafting the other during the Daytona 500 stockcar race. We know that’s incredibly dangerous; however, the question we have is, How closely should a driver follow behind the vehicle ahead? As with many things in a complex world, there is not one answer; however, there are three guidelines that can be followed that will dramatically reduce collisions caused by following too closely.
1. In an automobile, stay at least two seconds behind the vehicle in front of you. This guideline is for daytime driving in clear, dry weather and on good roads.
2. From that starting point, add one second of following time for each change in driving conditions. For example, if it’s dark outside, add a second. If it’s dark and raining, add two seconds.
3. In a commercial vehicle, stay at least four seconds behind the vehicle ahead and add seconds (described above) as needed for changes in driving conditions.
What’s the easiest way to measure distance behind another vehicle? Pick a landmark—a tree, a sign, etc. When the rear of the vehicle in front passes the landmark, begin counting the seconds: zero, one-thousand one, one-thousand two, etc. When the front of your vehicle reaches the landmark, stop counting. You will then know how many seconds you are following behind the vehicle in front.
If staying four seconds behind the vehicle in front seems excessive, think about it this way. If a vehicle ahead brakes abruptly, it takes the average driver at least .25 seconds to react and realize that there is a problem. In that time, at 60 MPH, you have already traveled 22 feet. Now you are 22 feet closer to the road hazard and you must add the distance it takes for your vehicle to go from 60 MPH to zero MPH—and without endangering yourself, your passengers, or those in the lanes around you.
If everyone practiced the four-second rule, we could reduce rear-end collisions dramatically. A more extensive training module in Flash format on tailgating and following too closely is one of the many on-line driver training modules available without charge to DriverCheck clients.
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