Confusion over what is a "safe following distance" has QUT [(Queensland University of Technology)] road safety researchers calling for a standardised definition to prevent tailgating.
- Tailgating conclusively linked to rear-end crashes
- Most drivers leave less than a 2 second gap between them and the vehicle in front
- Rear-enders account for one in five Queensland crashes
Dr Sebastien Demmel, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety -- Queensland (CARRS-Q), said the results of the study which found 50 per cent of drivers tailgate, was being presented at the 2017 Australasian Road Safety Conference in Perth today.
"This study, for the first time conclusively linked tailgating with rear-end crashes, but we also identified confusion among drivers over what is deemed to be a safe following distance," he said.
"Despite drivers perceiving they are following at a safe distance, our on-road data showed that in reality most don't leave the recommended two to three second gap," he said.
"At some locations 55 per cent of drivers were found to leave less than a two second gap between them and the vehicle in front, and 44 per cent less than a one second [gap]."
A safe following distance is 5 feet. While looking at a smartphone.
(Score: 2) by moondrake on Thursday October 12 2017, @10:11PM (3 children)
I prefer a considerable gap, but annoyingly, some bright bulb always thinks: hey, I can fit in there.
I found the solution is to be just the fastest one on the road, and then I get a ticket for speeding...
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 13 2017, @12:56AM (1 child)
Then you clearly weren't the fastest one on the road.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 13 2017, @09:10AM
Allegedly there were multiple photos taken at different points along the long route the car took, and they were all blurry...
That relative does spin some yarns, but hey good story...
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 13 2017, @11:07AM
It's difficult to keep that from getting to you, but you can console yourself with the thought that they'll gain a whole car length on you before they, too, come up against the guy you had been keeping a safe distance behind. If there had been nobody in front of you, then you can thank the idiot for sweeping out any highway patrol ahead who may have been lying in wait to give you a ticket. Or, if you're ghoulish, you can imagine the guy in the car wreck that lies in his future.
Washington DC delenda est.