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Safe Following Distances in all Types of Weather
April 19, 2023 at 9:45 AM
What steps to take when applying safe following distance in good weather conditions
When driving in good weather conditions, we recommend to apply the two second rule. We apply this following distance, so that if the vehicle in front of us stops suddenly, we should have enough time to stop safely behind the other vehicle. An easy way to work out the 2 second rule is when the vehicle in front of us passes a stationary landmark, we start counting one thousand and one, one thousand and two. If we reach the landmark before we say one thousand and two, we are driving too close to the vehicle in front. Good following distance also improves our visibility when we are driving behind a large vehicle for example a bus or truck. We also make ourselves more visible to other road users potentially coming out of side roads and driveways. The two second rule is the minimum distance in good weather conditions, so more is always better.
What steps to take when applying safe following distance in poor weather conditions
When driving in poor weather conditions, we recommend applying the four second rule. There are two main reasons why we apply more following distance in poor weather conditions. One being that the road is potentially more slippery, the other one is that visibility is potentially poor. We apply this distance so that if the vehicle in front of us stops suddenly, we should have enough time to stop safely behind the other vehicle. When the vehicle in front of us passes a stationary landmark, we start counting one thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and three, one thousand and four. If we reach the landmark before we say one thousand and four, we are driving too close to the vehicle in front. The four second rule is the minimum following distance in poor weather conditions, so more is always better.
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