When you learn to drive, you learn about following distance, and hopefully you learn to keep a good following distance of about three to five seconds. As you get comfortable driving, though, it’s important not to get too comfortable. What do I mean by that? I mean don’t get so comfortable that you start to shave that following distance to 2 or 1 second. (Most drivers have about 1 second of following distance – BIG mistake!)
Many times when you drive, it’s smooth sailing. You get from A to B so many times without incident, you might start to fall into the trap of thinking that it’s okay to move closer to the pack and your following distance might start shrinking. Sure, you may not get into a collision the first time you drive with a shorter following distance, but it’s a bad habit that significantly increases your risk of having a collision.
It’s okay to move with the pack and go with the flow, but do it from outside the pack, well behind with a good long following distance.
Watch this video to see Patrick Barrett, the Driver Education Guru, explain more about the importance of keeping that good habit of a good, spacious following distance.