Driving safely in traffic – the two-second rule
Your vehicle is your responsibility. You must be in control at all times.
You must keep your vehicle to a speed that allows you to stop it: safely, in a controlled way; on the correct side of the road; within the distance that you can see to be clear; and without risk or harm to you, your passengers and any other users of the road.
In traffic, the distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you is known as the ‘safe headway’. Keep a safe headway by ensuring you are at least two seconds behind the vehicle in front. This is known as the ‘two-second rule’. You can use the following steps to check if you are obeying the rule:
On a dry road, choose a point like a lamp post or road sign.
When the vehicle in front passes that point, say out loud, ‘Only a fool breaks the two-second rule’.
Check your position in relation to your chosen point as you finish saying this. If you have already passed the point, you are driving too close to the vehicle in front and need to pull back.
In wet weather, double the distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you by saying ‘Only a fool breaks the two-second rule’ twice.
If travelling in more severe conditions such as snow, fog and ice, you may need to repeat ‘only a fool breaks the two-second rule’ 4 or 5 times.
Use a fixed point to help measure a two-second gap.