Driving Tips > Safety Columns
Keep a safe following distance
Leaving enough room between your vehicle and the one in front of you helps to avoid the most common road mishap – rear-end collisions. These are usually preventable if you avoid tailgating.
Follow these tips to calculate a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front of you:
- Pick a fixed reference point as a benchmark.
- As the vehicle ahead passes the benchmark, count "one thousand and one", "one thousand and two", "one thousand and three" and "one thousand and four".
- If it takes less than four seconds for the front of your vehicle to reach your benchmark, you are following too close and need to adjust your distance. In winter and less than ideal road conditions, you should increase your following distance.
If you are being tailgated:
- Slow down allowing more room between you and the vehicle in front. This will allow you to be able to stop gradually instead of suddenly, and will reduce the risk of being rear-ended as the tailgating vehicle will also have more time to react and slow down.
- On a multi-lane roadway, change lanes to reduce the risk from a tailgater.
It's always dangerous to tailgate but be especially cautious in the winter – you never know when the vehicle in front may need to brake unexpectedly and poor road conditions may not allow you to stop as quickly as you anticipate.
For more information, check out our website and watch The 60-Second Driver on CTV.
