Following another vehicle too closely is a pandemic problem across our nation. The majority of drivers do this, some to the point of addiction. Why is this happening?
AN EVER-INCREASING POPULATION. Every decade is seeing an expanding population, which leads to increased traffic. Construction of new lanes lags behind.
FAULTY PERCEPTION OF BRAKING DISTANCE. I often ask my driving students, "See that car up ahead? If the driver braked suddenly, could you stop in time?" The reply is almost always, "Yes, I'm sure I could." I then ask, "See that car behind you that's the same distance away? If you braked sharply, could he stop?" The reply is an immediate "No!"
While your rear-view mirror reflects reality, what's ahead can be deceiving. Keep in mind that a car may have 100 times more rubber on the road than your bicycle, but weighs 1000 times more! Therefore, it cannot stop as fast.
EXPECTING ONLY THE EXPECTED. Tailgaters are not expecting anything to happen that would cause the preceding vehicle to brake sharply; and if something unexpected were to happen, the tailgater would anticipate it in time to respond. So, what's the big deal with following closely? Precisely because collisions happen when least expected, and tailgating makes them impossible to avoid!
AN OUT-DATED RULE. Most drivers are from an earlier generation. They were taught to maintain "one car length of space for every 10 mph." That rule has been abandoned, as it does not self-adjust to increased speeds. Today's teaching in "seconds" of space does. The common recommendation is a 2-4 second space cushion for city driving, with a 4-6 second interval on the freeway. While this is an improvement over the old rule, the lower number would require a combination of braking and swerving. The best rule combines the old and new: one second for every 10 mph (with slippery conditions requiring additional time).
FAULTY PERCEPTION OF BRAKING DISTANCE. I often ask my driving students, "See that car up ahead? If the driver braked suddenly, could you stop in time?" The reply is almost always, "Yes, I'm sure I could." I then ask, "See that car behind you that's the same distance away? If you braked sharply, could he stop?" The reply is an immediate "No!"
While your rear-view mirror reflects reality, what's ahead can be deceiving. Keep in mind that a car may have 100 times more rubber on the road than your bicycle, but weighs 1000 times more! Therefore, it cannot stop as fast.
EXPECTING ONLY THE EXPECTED. Tailgaters are not expecting anything to happen that would cause the preceding vehicle to brake sharply; and if something unexpected were to happen, the tailgater would anticipate it in time to respond. So, what's the big deal with following closely? Precisely because collisions happen when least expected, and tailgating makes them impossible to avoid!
AN OUT-DATED RULE. Most drivers are from an earlier generation. They were taught to maintain "one car length of space for every 10 mph." That rule has been abandoned, as it does not self-adjust to increased speeds. Today's teaching in "seconds" of space does. The common recommendation is a 2-4 second space cushion for city driving, with a 4-6 second interval on the freeway. While this is an improvement over the old rule, the lower number would require a combination of braking and swerving. The best rule combines the old and new: one second for every 10 mph (with slippery conditions requiring additional time).
GO ALREADY!!! Remember when you were a teen driver sitting about 12 cars back at a red light, the light turned green, and it took forever for the cars in front of you to go? (Literally, it was about 12 seconds, since it took the 12 cars a second each to begin going); but because you assumed drivers ahead were responding slowly, that was the problem; thus you reacted quickly, putting you (and others) in tailgate mode.
BEHAVIORAL ADDICTION. This is "a form of addiction that involves a compulsion to engage in a rewarding non-drug-related behavior despite any negative consequences to the person's physical, mental, social or financial well-being." This is most vividly demonstrated in the passing lane of the freeway during rush hour, where aggressive drivers ride the bumpers of others in dog-eat-dog fashion.
DRIVER EDUCATION NOT MEETING THE CHALLENGE. Teenagers need to be sensitized to following distances, especially tailgating. Driver ed programs bombard teen minds with video images of tailgating, yet call little attention to it. On student drives, the same holds true. Some driver education instructors are themselves tailgaters.
"TAILGATING" NOT ADEQUATELY DEFINED. Dictionaries commonly define tailgating as "following another vehicle too closely." Since older generations were taught to calculate closeness in terms of car lengths, MANY ASSUME THAT TAILGATING IS ANYTHING LESS THAN ONE CAR LENGTH.
TAILGATING WOULD BE BETTER DEFINED AS ANYTHING LESS THAN A 2-SECOND FOLLOWING DISTANCE, since less would virtually guarantee a crash should the driver ahead slam on his brakes.
COPY-CATTING OTHER DRIVERS. Following too closely may not result in a crash 99.9% of the time, but can if continued. As familiarity breeds acceptance, young drivers tend to copy the patterns of experienced drivers, forgetting (or abandoning) what they were taught in driver training.
SECOND GENERATION TAILGATERS. As they develop from infancy to maturity, kids become desensitized and habituated by the most powerful modeling agents in their lives--their parents. Since more is 'caught than taught,' driver education has a real challenge overcoming this modeling dynamic.
THE CHALLENGE FOR DRIVING SCHOOLS, THEN, IS TO SENSITIZE AND IMMUNIZE STUDENTS FROM THE BAD HABITS OF OTHERS.
BEHAVIORAL ADDICTION. This is "a form of addiction that involves a compulsion to engage in a rewarding non-drug-related behavior despite any negative consequences to the person's physical, mental, social or financial well-being." This is most vividly demonstrated in the passing lane of the freeway during rush hour, where aggressive drivers ride the bumpers of others in dog-eat-dog fashion.
DRIVER EDUCATION NOT MEETING THE CHALLENGE. Teenagers need to be sensitized to following distances, especially tailgating. Driver ed programs bombard teen minds with video images of tailgating, yet call little attention to it. On student drives, the same holds true. Some driver education instructors are themselves tailgaters.
"TAILGATING" NOT ADEQUATELY DEFINED. Dictionaries commonly define tailgating as "following another vehicle too closely." Since older generations were taught to calculate closeness in terms of car lengths, MANY ASSUME THAT TAILGATING IS ANYTHING LESS THAN ONE CAR LENGTH.
COPY-CATTING OTHER DRIVERS. Following too closely may not result in a crash 99.9% of the time, but can if continued. As familiarity breeds acceptance, young drivers tend to copy the patterns of experienced drivers, forgetting (or abandoning) what they were taught in driver training.
SECOND GENERATION TAILGATERS. As they develop from infancy to maturity, kids become desensitized and habituated by the most powerful modeling agents in their lives--their parents. Since more is 'caught than taught,' driver education has a real challenge overcoming this modeling dynamic.
THE CHALLENGE FOR DRIVING SCHOOLS, THEN, IS TO SENSITIZE AND IMMUNIZE STUDENTS FROM THE BAD HABITS OF OTHERS.
FOLLOWING AT LESS THAN TWO SECONDS BEGS FOR TROUBLE, SINCE IT TAKES ABOUT A SECOND JUST TO BEGIN BRAKING.
BY THEN YOU ARE ALMOST ON THE OTHER DRIVER'S BUMPER!
BY THEN YOU ARE ALMOST ON THE OTHER DRIVER'S BUMPER!
ONE SECOND FOR EVERY 10 MPH IS A GOOD RULE.
