Road Safety Week tips with Greg Murphy: the two-second rule
Thursday, 9 May 2019
Following too closely is one of the most common problems on New Zealand roads.
Driving too close to the car in front not only reduces your visibility of the road ahead (as well as making it much more risky to overtake if you need to), it also increases the chance of an accident if an emergency situation arises.
Even in a modern car with strong brakes, after you factor in reaction time you might be surprised how long it takes to stop at open road speeds.
'Give yourself a bit of cushion, a bit of breathing space,' says Greg Murphy.
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'We suggest that in dry, perfect conditions, it should be a couple of seconds between you and the car in front.
'From a point that you both go past, like a power pole, judge that distance by counting 'one thousand, two thousand'. That's a pretty good distance to keep.'
In adverse conditions it's a good idea to double that to four seconds.
'When the conditions change obviously that changes as well,' says Murphy.
'As the road becomes more slippery, the potential to pull the car up if something happens in front of you changes dramatically.
Make sure you're aware of the time to the car in front of you - but also how close the car behind is.'