Keeping Safe on the Roads. What is a Safe Following Distance?
The safe following distance behind the car in front is something all drivers are taught when they take driver’s education or study for their first driver’s license test. But, many drivers forget the rule after years of driving experience. The distance behind the car in front can be expressed in a number of ways such as yardages or car lengths and can vary based on the speed of travel. In general, however, a good rule of thumb is that drivers should always try to stay two to four seconds behind the vehicle in front. You can determine this by looking when the vehicle in front of you passes a fixed point on the side of the road and then counting off the seconds until you pass the same point. That’s your following distance in seconds. Too many drivers and too many accidents are caused because drivers are following too close.
We are currently representing a single mom who was seriously injured because a driver chose to follow only one second behind the car in front of him. It is difficult, if not impossible, to keep others safe at this following distance, not to mention yourself.
