Being tailgated can be very stressful. If you are in the car in front, you are acutely aware that your safety is dictated by the person behind you. It can be very hard or even impossible to avoid a rear-end collision. You simply have to hope that they stop in time, should a quick stop become necessary.
If that driver would maintain a following distance of three seconds, the odds of an accident would be substantially lower. This gives them enough space to recognize that they need to hit the brakes and slow down, even if it is an emergency.
The physical distance between the vehicles will be much different at different speeds. Three seconds in the city, when drivers are going 25 miles an hour, is much different than three seconds at 70 miles an hour on the interstate. But either way, it creates the appropriate cushion.
Why do drivers tailgate when it’s clearly dangerous?
Drivers tailgate for many different reasons. One is that they are unaware of what their safe following distance should actually look like. They are inadvertently tailgating and not counting off the seconds.
Another reason is that the driver may simply be in a rush. They may be waiting for a chance to pass, and so they tailgate until it arrives.
Furthermore, some drivers are trying to bully those ahead of them into going faster. They are frustrated with how the other person is driving, and they are using tailgating as a form of road rage to express that frustration.
Seeking compensation after an accident
Tailgaters do make accidents much more likely. If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, be sure you know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills and more.