Drivers are being urged to follow the 'two second rule' to reduce the risk of collisions. While many motorists say they are aware of the dangers of driving too close to the vehicle in front, National Highways said tailgating remains a problem that can have devastating consequences.
The Highway Code tells drivers to allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in front on roads carrying faster-moving traffic and in tunnels where visibility is reduced. The gap should be wider as speeds increase. It rises to 2.4 seconds – about 53 metres – when driving at 50mph and 3.1 seconds – or 96 metres – at 70mph.
The gap should be at least doubled on wet roads and increased still further on icy roads. A recent trial of new tailgating cameras on a stretch of the M1 captured 60,343 incidents of vehicles driving too close, in just one year.
National Highways has now launched a campaign to tackle the issue of tailgating which is a factor in around one in eight crashes on England’s motorways and major A roads. Its head of road safety, Jeremy Phillips, said: "Unfortunately, as highlighted by the M1 trial, we know that too many people are driving too close on our roads.
"Most tailgating is unintentional by drivers who don’t realise that they are infringing on someone else’s space. But not leaving enough space between you and the vehicle in front is not only very frightening for that driver, it could have devastating consequences.
"The closer you get, the less time you have to react and to stop safely. So to avoid inadvertently getting too close to the vehicle in front, we would urge drivers to use the two-second rule and to always ‘stay safe, stay back’."
To use the rule, drivers should allow the vehicle in front to pass a fixed object such as a lamp post or road sign then count to two seconds. If they reach two seconds before reaching the reference marker they need to drop back.
Last year National Highways and Northamptonshire Police joined forces in a trial to raise awareness and deter tailgating. Cameras were used on lane one of a stretch of the M1 over 12 months to automatically detect vehicles driving too close.
National Highways has now released the figures from the trial when there were:
- 60,343 detections
- 10,994 repeat offenders
- 2,144 letters sent to drivers warning they had driven too close and highlighting the dangers of not leaving safe braking distances
Drivers caught in the trial were not prosecuted but advised they had been tailgating and given educational material demonstrating the dangers of driving too close. National Highways will use the results of the trial to inform future work on tailgating.
Driving too close to another vehicle can lead to prosecution for ‘driving without due care and attention’. This offence carries a minimum fine of £100 and three penalty points, and in some cases more severe penalties or a court appearance.
