Read on to learn more about the importance of maintaining a good distance and details about how you can put it into practice every time you drive. To understand the importance of maintaining a safe following distance, you need to understand the basics of stopping distance.
The term stopping distance means how far it takes for your car to come to a full stop in an emergency. The stopping distance uses two major factors to determine the actual distance required. First, your reaction distance to the other vehicle and second, your braking distance. The reaction distance is determined by how far your car is between something happening ahead of you and how you react to it. There is always a certain amount of time between the moment something occurs and when you actually hit the brakes.
Reaction distances can be as short as a millisecond or they could be several seconds long! How long the reaction time or distance is can depend on a range of factors. Things like your age, your driving experience, and even weather conditions can all come into play. In most cases, it can take anywhere from 0. The braking distance is also a crucial part of this equation. Your braking distance is directly related to your speed. With these factors combined, your stopping distance is equal to your reaction distance plus your braking distance.
If an emergency happens ahead of you and you drive another 20 feet before reacting to the incident and another 20 feet before you stop, the total stopping distance is 40 feet. Putting the 3-second rule into place can help make this easier and keep you from getting involved in an automobile accident. Tailgating creates some of the most dangerous situations on the road.
Some drivers forget the laws of the road—and the law of physics—and put themselves and every driver around them in danger by driving close to other vehicles. Based on insurance company reports, these are the top 10 states with the most tailgating violations:. Many of these states also rank high on the list for aggressive drivers. Following too closely is considered a form of aggressive driving. If a driver behind you is tailgating, you leave additional space between your vehicle and the car in front of you to make sure you have enough time to slow down and avoid both front and rear collisions.
Ideally, you should always try to maintain a 3-second following distance or more whenever possible. This will give you more time to react in case the vehicle in front of you slams on the brakes or hits another car. Giving yourself the distance you need to avoid hitting someone else can be the difference between a horrible day on the road and a safe one.
While the 3-second rule should be the basic principle of using a safe following distance, the amount of time you need to react could be longer. Another thing that can affect your following distance is the type of vehicles on the road. For example, you should stay at least 70 feet or five car lengths away from a snowplow. The entire purpose of maintaining a safe following distance is to give your car the time it will need to stop before hitting the car in front of it.
Remember: the whole purpose of a safe following distance is to give you time to brake or to safely drive around a car that stops in front of you. If conditions like wet pavement affects your brakes' ability to stop your car, give them more time to do their job. Tailgating is a ticketable offense, but more importantly, it is dangerous to both the driver who does the tailgating and the car that is being tailgated.
The car in front might have to slam on its brakes suddenly, which leaves absolutely no time for the car in back to react to the situation. As a matter of fact, the car in back is only adding extra danger to the situation. Many multicar accidents occur because several cars are tailgating the vehicle in front of them when an accident occurs, causing a chain reaction. The more cars involved, the more dangerous the situation.
Many accidents and deaths could be prevented by simply leaving enough space between cars to allow for sudden stops. Even in inclement weather, people will tailgate the vehicle in front of them.
Sometimes — because of delays caused by the weather — drivers are actually more likely to tailgate. This is dangerously ironic: in bad weather, brakes are less effective. In those conditions, your car needs more stopping distance, not less. There are millions of tombstones in thousands of cemeteries because people gambled with their lives and lost.
Just touching the brake pedal to make your brake lights flash or tapping your rearview mirror is also a popular way of telling those behind you to give you some room. Some drivers like to use their emergency flashers or turn a blinker on to get others to go around, but these can also be ticketable offenses.
When you follow too close to the car ahead of you, you are putting yourselves, the people in the car with you, and the people in the other car in danger…not to mention the other cars that are on the road that are going to have to react to the situation if there is a collision. It means worrying about everyone else on the road as well.
Tailgating can also lead to road rage. If someone is in a bad mood or drunk or depressed, or all three, they may take your tailgating as a sign of aggression, and slam on the brakes, causing an collision, or an altercation. Roadside Assistance. Find a Service Provider. Check Your Claim Status. Manage Your Claim Experience.
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Home Central. Travelers Garage. Insurance Travelers Risk Index. Get a Quote. Or Call 1. Retrieve a saved quote. Travelers is proud to work with the finest Independent Agents. By Travelers Risk Control. The Three-Second Rule Increasing the distance between you and the car ahead can help give you the time you need to recognize a hazard and respond safely.
Sometimes Three Seconds Is Not Enough The three-second rule is recommended for passenger vehicles during ideal road and weather conditions. National Safety Council,
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