In regards to driving... what is the first thing you think of when someone mentions "The 3 second rule"?
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Kraigmo (
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2 months ago
Please don’t run to Google. That would defeat the purpose of my question. I want to know your immediate thoughts as to what “The 3 second rule” is.
I’m being vague on purpose.
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The rule is that you should be three seconds behind the driver in front of you, as measured by the time it takes for you to pass an object after the person in front of you does so. The recommendation of three seconds is based on reaction times when driving in normal conditions, and should therefore be lengthened when driving in adverse conditions (e.g., inclement weather).
I don’t know. I’ve only heard it in referring to food dropped on the floor. If I drop something in the car it stays where it is until I’m stopped and parked.
No idea. If it is about following distance, we were taught one car length for every 10 miles of speed.
I thought it was the opposite of @SavoirFaire – when you are passing someone on the left (normal behavior in the US) wait three seconds before putting on your signal and moving back to the slow lane.
About how close behind – I learned something different from @savoir – I learned that you shouls never be closer than ‘n’ car lengths behind the guy in front – and ‘n’ was based on speed divided by 10.
So if you are driving 20 mph, you should be at least 2 car lengths back. If you are driving 65, at least 6.5 car lengths back, and so on.
Following distance when driving
I aim for no less than 5 car lengths behind. Some times more.
If you drop your car on the floor you have 3 seconds to pick it up before it officially belongs to the dog.
If you are stopped by police and happen to be black, you have 3 seconds to live.
Following distance. 2 or 3 seconds is generally a safe following distance.
@gondwanalon That sounds awfully close to me although of course, sometimes in a jam you can’t help it.
@janbb Think about it. Traveling at 60 mph and allowing 3 seconds between you and the car in front of you is generally a very safe following distance.
Follow 2 second behind the car ahead of you going 60 mph is the same as following 176 feet behind the car in front.
I didn’t look at any other answers. I think how far back from the car in front of you. I think I remember it as the two second rule, but I assume three second is the same thing just farther back.
^^ I looked it up and it is 2 seconds, at least on directauto.com. It said the two-second rule is equivalent to one vehicle length for every 5 MPH of the current speed.
Read the answers now.
@elbanditoroso Getting back over (if I remember correctly) has to do with how far ahead of the car you are that you will be going in front of, I don’t even know how to use the seconds rule for it. How can you tell how many seconds the car caddy corner behind and next to you is? I remember things like should check your mirrors or the car be 200 feet behind you (that’s a guess at this point). Not even sure what I remember.
If you fart you must crack the windows open for at three seconds if you have passengers?
@JLeslie It’s very simple to follow the 2 second rule.
Watch the car ahead of you as it passes a stationary object or marking. Then count the number of seconds it takes for your car to reach that reference point.
I’m elderly so I like to follow 3 seconds behind a lead vehicle. Many a little more when following a motorcycle.
I was taught to measure by car length, not seconds.
@gondwanalon I know. I answered that as my first response. I even have said “you’re breaking the two second rule” to my husband. Lol. @elbanditoroso said when to move over in front of someone. How would you do that?
@jonsblond How many car lengths at what speed?
It’s harder to estimate (less accurate) car lengths than it is to simply count seconds.
One thousand one, one thousand two.
@gondwanalon but seconds don’t take into account speed or traffic
@elbanditoroso Of course it does.
The faster the speed, the longer the distance covered in 2 seconds.
The slower the speed, the shorter the distance covered in 2 seconds.
Traffic congestion isn’t a factor.
@JLeslie I cited that above. We were taught one car length for every 10 miles of speed.
@janbb I was just wondering how many car length @jonsblond uses. I was taught that technique also, along with the two second rule. I never use the car length though. @jonsblond might not either, she might just be saying that is what she was taught. I need to pay attention more, but I think probably most highways don’t have seven car lengths between cars at 70mph. I am going to try to figure it out next time I am a passenger. I’m not on the highway very much, but I will be next week. I’m trying to picture it.
@elbanditoroso That’s the point of the two second rule, it is taking into account the speed of traffic. It is accounting for needing more stopping time at higher speeds.
Going by 10 feet for every 10 mph, if you’re going 70 mph, you want to be 70 feet from the car in front of you. On the highways around here (NY/CT), if you were 70 feet from the car in front of you, you’d be cut off no matter what lane you’re in.
In high school driver’s education I was taught ten feet for every ten miles per hour. However, I took a driving class (for an insurance premium reduction) and learned the counting rule mentioned above to be: At speeds under 45 mph, two seconds, and speeds at or over 45 mph, three seconds.
@jca2 Here too. What @tedibear wrote makes more sense. I’m pretty sure most of us drive a little closer than those rules. Depends how much traffic there is. I don’t like being too close.
@jca2 70 feet is far too close to follow behind a car at 70 mph.
The 2 second rule at 70 mph equals a following distance of 231 feet.
No wonder there are nearly 43,000 motor vehicle deaths in the U.S.A. each year. And the crazy thing is that no one gives a damn about it.
Oh, I misread what @jca2 wrote. 7 car lengths is not 70 ft, it’s about 130 ft. .
I can guarantee that if you were 130 feet from the car in front of you, it just wouldn’t happen because you’d have a zillion cars cutting you off, so staying that far from the car in front of you would be impossible. I’m talking about here, where the highways are congested. Maybe in South Dakota or something, you could do it.
@jca2 I do agree that if we drive too far from the car in front of us in Florida, cars will keep coming in front of us, I was just correcting the feet in terms of the rule. Florida highways are crowded and aggressive also. In fact, parts of the Turnpike and I4 feel more aggressive to me then some highways in NYS. FL has higher speeds, more lanes, and more tourists doing crazy things on the road depending which highways you are comparing. Both states are large and in the end I would say similar. NYS has more mountains, which slows down some of the highways.
Stay behind the vehicle in front of you the distance it would take to come to a complete stop in three seconds? (ie larger distance between vehicles when you’re traveling at a higher speed)
In LA you need to be 1–2 seconds following distance. Anything more and someone will cut in front of you. Anything less and you can’t respond fast enough to traffic changes. It takes a lot of concentration to drive with 1–2 sec following distance. That’s really tiring after a while.
The 2 second rule is very doable. I drive in very congested highways (Tacoma, Seattle area). When I’m creeping along at 5 or 10 mph or cruising along at 70 I always follow at least 2 seconds behind the lead vehicle. The 2 second rule works well in heavy or light traffic.
Of course there are drivers out there that seemed hell bent on killing somebody including themselves. Give aggressive drivers room. Never try to play their deadly game. They are wrong to make unsafe lane changes or cut other drivers off.
Sometimes there will be a vehicle tailgating me. I think that the driver may think that I’m driving too slow because he sees the 2 second gap between my vehicle and the next vehicle (but I’m maintaining the 2 second gap). Whenever that happens I change lanes ASAP to get out of the way. Then typically the tailgating vehicle speeds up to ride the next vehicle’s bumper. Then I think, “Better thee than me”.
Don’t become one of the 43,000 human beings that are slaughtered in vehicle crashed each year in the USA.
Follow the 2 second rule and live.
I simply create a space as big as possible around me and other vehicles.
^^ LOL You GO big bubble girl!
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