An appropriate following distance is a critical part of driving safely. You always need to have enough distance between you and the car in front of you that you can stop if there is an emergency.
But one problem that people often run into is that they accidentally tailgate. When all the cars are moving together and the flow of traffic is consistent, it can feel safe to drive relatively close to the next vehicle. But if that car suddenly had to stop in an emergency, a rear-end accident may become unavoidable.
So how do you determine if you are using a safe following distance or not?
Count off three seconds
People do sometimes advise looking at the physical distance, such as trying to keep three car lengths between every vehicle. But this can be difficult to do, and the amount of physical space you need changes depending on how fast you are driving.
As such, a better approach is often to count off three seconds. When the car ahead of you passes a stationary point, like a cross street, it should take you at least three seconds to reach the same point on the road.
This way, the actual physical distance between vehicles expands when they are traveling at higher speeds and shrinks when they are traveling at lower speeds. But you always have enough time to react and hit the brakes, should it become necessary.
Seeking compensation
Unfortunately, there are many accidental tailgaters who could cause serious crashes. If you have suffered injuries in a crash that one of them caused, you need to know what legal options you have.