What is following distance?
Following distance is the space between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you while driving. For safe driving, you must maintain a correct following distance. It is crucial to keep enough distance so that you can stop safely if something unexpected happens.
What is the following distance according to the law?
The driver must be able to stop his vehicle within a distance that he can see and that is free of obstacles. This means that he must always take his vision and any obstacles on the road into account in order to brake safely when necessary.
What is the following distance in practice?
It is important to keep a safe distance in traffic. This means that you must stay at least 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front of you. This rule helps ensure that you have enough time to react to sudden braking or other unexpected situations. By maintaining this distance, you increase safety for yourself and others on the road.
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How can you estimate the following distance?
You can check whether you are keeping enough distance by counting out loud while you drive. It works like this: when the vehicle in front of you passes a certain point, you start counting. If you pass the same point after two seconds, you have the correct following distance.
How do you calculate the following distance?
You can easily calculate the following distance by using the following rule of thumb: (Your speed/2) + 10% = following distance in meters
Following distance calculation example:
Imagine that you are driving at a speed of 80 km/h behind another car. You can calculate the correct following distance in meters with a simple rule of thumb: take your speed, divide it by 2 and add 10% of your speed. Example: (80 / 2) + (10% of 40) = 40 + 4 = 44 meters.
Therefore here should be about 44 meters of space between your car and the car in front of you for safe driving.
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When should you increase the following distance?
The two-second rule only applies under optimal weather conditions! This goes without saying, because in bad weather, such as rain, snow, fog, or even driving at night, you will need to increase that distance.
Summary about following distance:
Following distance refers to the space between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you while driving. In normal weather conditions it is 2 seconds for safety and this is based on the time needed to stop safely in the event of unexpected events.