Posts Tagged ‘car accident’
Why You Must Remember To Keep Your Distance to the Car In Front
Driving is an expertise that is learned effortlessly by most people, however driving safely is an art. How do you figure out what is a safe distance to keep from the car in front. Well, this is a difficult question and nearly everyone would have different opinions on it. A few drivers would say four car lengths is the distance that should be kept whilst other would give some other opinion that could be based on their personal experience.
The most familiar rule of thumb that drivers have developed for this is by counting seconds. You find a fixed position in front, like a tree, road sign and as soon as the car in front leaves behind the object you start counting gradually ‘one thousand seconds, two thousand seconds’ and so on until you go by the object.
When the weather is clear and the roads are dry, a two second count would be the distance to be kept from the car in front of you. If it’s drizzling and the road is slick, increase the count to four seconds. If the weather is really bad, you are supposed to increase the count to eight to nine seconds.
In case of dry weather conditions if the time between you and the car in front increases by more than two seconds, drivers at the back will start getting disturbed and will strive to cut in front of you. Therefore as a rule when you are driving on an open road, make sure that the two second distance is kept.
Safety is the most important reason for you to remember to keep your distance from the car in front. Every time you get in to the car to drive, you may not be in the same alert level. You maybe tired, in a bad mood, furious or in a relaxed mood. But once you are driving, you have to clear your mind of all anger and frustrations that you may have and stay focused on driving instead.
The most frequent car accidents that happen are when a driver hits the vehicle in front of him. Hence, maintain the two second rule and always be vigilant while driving and try and observe what the driver in front of you is up to. Stay away from tailgating, as this can be risky and can result in an accident. Don’t let annoyance buildup whilst driving as this could be one of the causes of becoming rash. Never try to get too close to the car in front, and don’t stay too far behind as well as this may increase possibility for other drivers behind you to hog and try rash moves to overtake you because of frustration.
All the cars on the road take similar time and distance to stop at the same speed, so by keeping that two second distance you are in the safety zone, and that is the distance you are required keep.
A safe distance must be kept between your car and the car in front of you for maximum protection. If there is heavy traffic then you must be more careful. Accidents take place in less than a second, so don’t be unfocused and maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you.