In order to be a safe driver and keep your family from harm, or to teach someone how to drive, you should not tailgate! Many who are overzealous have this hazardous habit.
When you tailgate, you not only impinge on the safety of others, but on their personal space as well. As humans we are inherently social beings, yet we also answer an impingement on our space in various ways, which are dependent upon our upbringing.
Seeing a car close behind in our rearview mirror elicits various responses from different individuals. Because of these varied responses from different individuals it is impossible to say what constitutes tailgating.
Perhaps that’s why, not too long ago, two New York State Highway Patrolmen rocketed over to the fast lane, and there began tailgating each other and other vehicles. Of course, they may have had other reasons—anyone who sees a police vehicle in his rearview mirror, even without sirens and horns going, is most likely going to move aside and let the police vehicle pass.
Regardless of the social implications of the problem, following another vehicle at close proximity is hazardous to your safety and the safety of other drivers. This has led experts on driver safety, and driving teachers to develop some rules regarding tailgating.
The first rule is that of car length. It is a general rule stating that a person should follow another vehicle at one car length for every 10 miles per hour of vehicle speed.
This rule would ask that, if you are travelling at 30 miles per hour, you allow three car lengths between you and the vehicle ahead of you, or at 50 miles per hour allow five car lengths. After some time, a more precise line of thought led to the development of the 2-second rule.
The rule asks that a driver maintain a buffer of two seconds between his own vehicle and the vehicle ahead of him. In bumper-to-bumper traffic the rule would only require a car length, but on the highway the distance required would be more.
This rule is founded in a person’s observations based on the senses and the amount of time it takes him to respond to those observations. Should the driver ahead of you stop suddenly, it would be a moment before you noticed it, and then another moment for you to begin to slow and stop your own vehicle.
In that scenario, it would be imperative that you commence your stop at that same spot the other driver did because you might otherwise cause an accident. Approximations regarding the time it takes to observe an event and the time it takes to respond to what is observed are one-half or three-quarters of a second for each one.
The additional one or one-half second is a built in buffer to allow for special circumstances. The rule sounds easy enough to follow, yet there have been disagreements between students and teachers as to how to count the requisite two seconds.
An example of disagreement regarding tailgating rules is that of a congested traffic zone on the outskirts of Toronto, Canada. Chevrons painted on the surface of the roadway were meant to show how far apart cars should be when travelling at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, but instead they were deemed too distracting by drivers.
Many drivers believed that it was hazardous to be looking at signs painted on the pavement rather than paying attention to traffic. They did not understand, however, the importance of the signs.
One should not repetitively be counting two seconds each time he is driving behind another vehicle, but instead should use the rule to attempt to determine the appropriate distance to follow behind a vehicle at a given speed. This will allow the driver to have a quick reference point and to avoid tailgating another vehicle.
Perhaps the best method is to have the passenger in the vehicle, if there is one, do the counting. This will keep the driver from becoming overly distracted.
Driving instructors have begun testing their students by asking them to report how many seconds there are between the student’s vehicle and the vehicle ahead of them. The student driver should be able to estimate because he has previously done the counting and knows how many seconds it is.
It is also helpful to pick a landmark, such as barricades or construction signs, to use to help you count. If you are approaching these landmarks too quickly then you may be traveling too fast.
This rule for preventing tailgating can help in decreasing the number of accidents on motorways, and also help in keeping traffic orderly. Whether you are teaching a student driver or your own child how to drive, make sure that they know the hazards around them.
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