Have you ever had someone following too closely behind your vehicle, to the point that it made you nervous because their tailgating could cause an accident?
You may find yourself wondering why another driver would do this. If you ask them, they may even insist that they were not too close to your vehicle. They consider themselves a good driver, so if they needed to stop in an emergency, they would just do so immediately. They would insist that they were paying attention and they were ready to hit the brakes, so there was never really a risk of them causing a rear-end accident.
But no matter how fervently the other driver believes that, this is not actually how braking works, and it does not happen immediately.
A 1.5 second delay
In most cases, there is a delay of at least 1.5 seconds between the front vehicle starting to slow down and the following driver hitting their brakes.
This delay can be split into two parts, both of which take about 3/4 of a second. First, the driver in the following car has to realize that they need to hit the brakes and come to a stop. Second, they need to move their foot onto the brake pedal and push it down.
It does not sound like a 1.5 second delay is very much, but a vehicle traveling at 60 miles an hour could cover more than 100 feet during that time. If the following driver is only one or two seconds behind the car ahead of them, they do not have enough time or space to stop safely.
Seeking compensation
Many drivers make this mistake, and they cause serious car accidents. If you have suffered injuries, be sure you know what legal options you have to seek financial compensation.
