Following distance: What is too close by law?

Question

I live in Washington state and just received a ticket for following to close on the freeway going 60 mph. Supposedly I was following between 10-20ft I was wondering how close is to close.

Answer 1

Stopping sight distance is the sum of the distance traveled reacting to a situation and the distance brakes require to stop a vehicle.  At 60, these are, respectively, 220.5 and 345.5, so 570 feet would be the safe following distance assumed by road designers.  This is a very conservative number that accounts for some of the worst cars likely to be on the road, so with a newer car with good brakes, tires, suspension and a good, dry road surface, you can do much better, but please back off a bit to save yourself from accidents and high insurance.  On a freeway, drivers can become lulled by the monotony and are less vigilant, so I'd suggest the four-second rule as a minimum, and 60 mph is 88 feet per second, not 66, so that would be about 360 feet.

Answer 2

20 feet at 60 mph?  Whoa!  If you were that close behind me I would have been slowing down (slowly) to slow you down or get you to pass me, in an attempt to keep myself safe.  That is major tailgating.  You should be leaving approximately 6 car lengths minimum (one length (10 feet) for each 10 mph, or approximately 60 feet minimum).  Since that is hard to visualize, and cars have also gotten smaller the past 20 years, current advice is to leave 3 seconds time between your car and the car in front.  That way, the faster you go, the larger safety zone you leave.  In inclement weather, not only slow down, but stretch that distance to 4, 5, even 6 seconds as traction gets worse.

My good buddy "Wired For Sound" knows of what he speaks.  Listen to those of us with experience, you will live longer, and have a more enjoyable drive, to boot.

By the way, this is drivers' ed 101, and should have been on your learner permit test!

Answer 3

The minimum distance you should be away from the rear of a car in front of you when traveling is 2 seconds on good dry roads.  I stay back about 4 seconds on wet roads.  Then when I'm on snow covered roads I stay back as far as I feel comfortable in knowing I can get stopped safely.  

I hate tailgaters, if people only knew how quickly the car in front of them can stop in an emergency stop and how long it takes you to react before you hit your brakes to avoid hitting them. It's not only if the person needs to stop quickly that is the problem, it's when someone would happen to pull out in front of the person in front of you that will stop them quickly as well.  Let this be a good lesson as you could have learned this lesson through an accident.

Answer 4

That is way too close. Shame on you. That's called tailgating and it is dangerous, not just for you but the car that you are tailgating.

You should keep at least one car length distance between vehicles, more in tough weather (rain, snow, sleet, ice).  You need to be in control of your vehicle at all times. You need to be able to stop quickly. If you are following that closely there is no way that you could stop without hitting the car in front.

Please stop tailgating.

Answer 5

I've always been told that for every 10 mph, you should put 1 car length between you and the car in front of you, i.e., 60 mph = 6 car lengths.  I couldn't tell you the law on the subject, though.

Answer 6

everyone says 10 ft or 1 car length for every10 mph. but from observing and driving myself, this is very impractical. you would never reach your destination on time and many people would cut it front of you, thus pushing you farther and farther back, especailly during rush hour. so what i think is the best rule of thumb is pay attention, know how fast your reaction time is, and know how fast your car can stop on dry and wet days. we also have technology to stop us faster such as ABS (anit-locking braking system) and TCS (traction control system). both systems work with your brakes and tires to assit you in stoping faster and safer.

Answer 7

I knew there was something I liked about living in WA....   The troopers up here are starting to crack down on ignorance.  You will also get a ticket in this state if you cut a truck off after passing it on the interstate....

Here are some figures for you to think about....  

Everyone above has talked about the "Smith System" and the 2-4 second rule of following distance....  Take it one step further and explain distances related to speed.  

You state that you were traveling at 60 mph.  This translates to 66 feet per second.  

If the car in front of you would have slammed on the brakes, from the time you saw the brake lights come on, it would take you 3/4 of a second to move from the accelerator to the brake pedal.  You jam on the brakes and it takes about another 3/4 of a second for them to fully apply.  In that 1 1/2 seconds that have passed, you have still traveled 99 feet at 60 mph.  Meanwhile, the car in front of you has slowed drastically and about the time you get your foot on the brake, you have a new hood ornament on your car... better known as his trunk lid.  

This 2 second rule under 30 mph and 4 seconds over that really does work.  Granted, it takes some time to get use to doing it... especially if you have been in the habit of tailgating.  You feel like you are never going to get anywhere, but if you take the time to analize this driving technique, you will notice that the trip probably takes the same amount of time and you won't be as stressed out when you get to your destination.

Sit back... plug in some good tunes and relax...   you will live longer because of it.... and maybe someone else will too!

Good luck and safe motoring...

Answer 8

Drive that close to me, matey, and me and Mr Brake will introduce your car very swiftly to Mr Trunk, and your face to Mr Dash.

Nice to see that the Police in your neck of the woods share my opinion of your driving 'ability'.

Answer 9

As so many have stated,   1 car length for every 10 mph of speed.  

Too many have a difficult time judging distance,  so I prefer the system taught by the Smith System,   which is the 4 second rule.   When the vehicle in front of you passes any object,   slowly count four seconds.      You should not reach the same point in that time period,  or you are too close.

A safe following distance gives you enough time to react to anything that happens in front of your without panic or urgency.    Washington state is also to be commended for putting troopers in big trucks (passenger seat) with cameras and radios to change the behaviour of  reckless drivers around trucks.   WAY TO GO WASHINGTON STATE PATROL!!   WELL DONE!

Answer 10

Some states use the 2 second rule and some use the 1 car length for every 10mph rule.

Washington State Law for following distance rules.

If you are driving at 30 mph or less, a following time of two to three seconds may be enough to stop safely. However, at higher speeds, the best rule to use is the four-second rule.

Answer 11

the general rule is a minimum of 2 seconds between you and the car in front.  if you're going 60 mph, that's 88 feet per second, which means you should allow about 176 feet.  so, obviously you were following waaaay too closely.

Answer 12

A good rule of thumb is, one car length for every  10 miles per hour. If that were followed, you'd be shuffled back to where you came from  in about 45 minutes. People have different reaction times, if the guy in front of you slammed on his brakes, you would have made a new friend before you could react to seeing the lights. 10 - 20 feet is too close at highway speeds.