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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 urza9814 on Friday October 13 2017, @12:55PM
In my part of the US, the law is also that you must always use the rightmost free lane...but passing on the right is explicitly permitted (at least on major highways...it is banned on smaller roads). So if someone is breaking the law and sitting in the passing lane for no reason, you can go around them, and they're still the only ones breaking the law. Unfortunately, the police don't really enforce that law...nobody ever gets bused for going too slow, no matter what lane they're in, no matter how heavy the traffic, even if they're well below the posted minimum speed limit...