When I learned to drive, the instructor told me the proper amount of space to leave between me and the car in front of me was one car length for each 10 mph.
I used this technique for years and years.
A few years ago, I trained with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation to teach people how to maximize their safety on a motorcycle.
The MSF take on following distance is a little easier to follow: Make sure you are at least two seconds behind the vehicle in front of you. And that’s if weather and road conditions are optimal.
This is easier than trying to mentally picture a line of cars between you and the car you are following. You picked a fix object and start counting after the car in front passes it and quit counting when it reaches the front of your car, or motorcycle, or whatever.
I do this on my commutes to and from work, which is all Interstate travel.
Usually when I check, I’m right on the money. Good for me. However, a frightening thing is how many people don’t allow a two-second following distance. Or even one second.
This morning I was amazed as I watched cars stack up in the left lane, going in excess of 70 mph, with about a half-second of following time.
If the driver in front had braked suddenly for any reason or had a blowout, the drivers behind would not have been able to stop in time to avoid a collision. A high-speed collision.
I increased my following distance to three seconds.
Here’s the funny part. If they increased their following distance to two seconds, they would have only delayed their arrival by 1.5 seconds. I don’t know that I’ve ever been in such a hurry that I couldn’t spare 1.5 seconds.
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