In order to decrease the amount of accidents and traffic on the road, all drivers should follow the three-seconds driving rule.
Driving is an incredibly dangerous activity in which nearly all Americans partake in every single day. All drivers have the following mentality: “I am a good driver, but everyone else is terrible!” You don’t have to be a mathematician to know this does not add up. Either everyone is a good driver or everyone is a terrible driver. With over well 5 million accidents a year, evidence points to the latter being true. (Yes, including you.) And until everyone has a self-driving car, there’s not a whole lot we can do about this figure. Fortunately, there are some things that can help reduce our chances of an accident, or at least being at fault; the three-second driving rule is such a thing. But what is the driving rule, and why do all drivers need to do it?
What is the three-second driving rule?
The three-second driving rule means that we should always have a three-second driving cushion between you and the car in front of you.
Why do we need it?
The idea behind the three-second driving rule stems from the fact that we have poor reaction times and even poorer attention spans. What has to happen so that we apply our brakes before we crash?
- We have to see the car in front of us has stopped.
- Our brains then have to process that information and determine that we need to stop.
- Our brains need to send a signal to our right leg.
- The leg needs to actually move and apply the brakes.
- The car has to stop before we crash into the car in front of us.
It takes an average of 1.5 seconds before the brakes are even applied. With 3 seconds between you and the car in front of you, it should give you enough time to avoid an accident.
How to apply it.
Take a landmark (e.g. a sign, tree, boulder, bridge, etc.) and wait for the car in front of you to pass it and start counting. Three seconds should pass before you pass this landmark. If you’re going particularly fast, aim for four seconds; it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Being a safe fall driver is only half the battle. Having the right auto insurance policy can help to give you the peace of mind that you need while you’re on the road. Contact the independent insurance professionals at VGW Walker Insurance for all of your Texas car insurance needs to keep you and your family safe.
