First, we should discuss why clickbaiting shouldn’t really work. Some RWCPulse readers might have clicked on this blog post, assuming we will talk about football in preparation for Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas – the home of the Raiders. Nope, we are not talking about that kind of tailgating. Maybe a few fans of Tango clicked on this post on the rare chance we would actually talk about ballroom dancing. And yes, maybe we can do about that a little. But mostly, this post will be all about driving etiquette.
By now, we lost all the football fans, we lost the dancers, and our real target group never even clicked on the link. So basically, for the next five minutes, I will mainly talk to myself, which means this blog will be very short. That kind of clickbaiting should fail every single time, but somehow, it still works for others.
Driving Etiquette
Now, let’s talk about driving again. Driving is like ballroom dancing. You usually need two dancers to dance the Waltz, the Rumba, and the Tango. Etiquette commands that both dancers avoid stepping on each other’s feet. This is like a signed contract between the two parties. Both partners adhering to the same simple rules makes dancing much safer and more enjoyable for everybody.
Back to driving. When two cars drive behind each other, they also enter a partnership.
- The front car is responsible for driving at a Safe Speed because he can see what’s ahead
- The car that is following is in charge of keeping a Safe Distance to avoid a fender-bender
But what if the car behind you isn’t adhering to their dance partner contract? Now you are in charge of Safe Speed and Safe Distance. And here is why.
Safe Speed
Speed kills. So what is the safest driving speed other than the obvious – driving really, really slow?
Thanks to good traffic engineering, the safest speed is often also the posted speed, also known as the speed limit. However, driving at the speed limit could still violate the law if law enforcement deems the current road conditions unsafe. Plenty of situations require the front driver – who can see better – to slow down, including road conditions, weather, animals, pedestrians, and many others. There are also laws in regard to minimum speed, but those apply mostly to multi-lane highways. There is almost always a good reason or excuse to go slower in urban areas.
Safe Distance
The California Driver’s Handbook says: “Tailgating makes it harder for you to see the road ahead because the vehicle in front of you blocks your view. You will not have enough time to react if the driver in front of you brakes suddenly. Use the three-second rule to ensure a safe following distance and avoid a collision. Following other vehicles at a safe distance gives you enough time to react if another driver makes a mistake.“
The driver’s handbook talks about three seconds, but distance is usually measured in meters. And yes, we use meters because science uses the metric system, and I see a complicated formula coming. Just kidding, we will just use an online calculator for this:
- 15 mph -> 22 ft (at 1 sec), 44 ft (at 2 sec), and 66 ft (at 3 sec)
- 25 mph -> 37, 74, and 111 ft
- 35 mph -> 52, 104, and 156 ft
- 65 mph -> 96, 192, and 288 ft
As we can see, having just one more second of reaction time can make quite the difference in distance. In 2020, 324,652 people were injured by distracted drivers; giving themselves a few extra feet would have made a difference in those statistics.
What is tailgating?
Tailgating happens when the second driver neglects his duty to provide a safe distance. Unfortunately, even the risk of tailgating is a shared scenario. Both drivers are in a very risky situation. If it comes to a collision, the driver in the second car usually takes on the financial risk of paying to repair the damage on both cars. However, the driver in the front takes on a higher injury risk. In general, many safety features in cars are geared and optimized towards a frontal crash (airbags, seat belts, crumple zones), so the driver that causes the tailgating collision often has fewer severe injuries. Drivers and passengers of cars that were rear-ended often report neck and back problems for years to come.
Why are people tailgating?
As far as we know, there is no real upside to tailgating. It’s an all-risk, no-reward kind of scenario. And yet, so many drivers are doing it. There are a few explanations or theories for that:
- The tailgater could be a very insecure person. It’s the traffic version of hiding under mom’s skirt or clutching daddy’s jeans. Only therapy might help.
- The tailgater could be a bully, trying to force you to drive above legal speed. They might keep their distance if you are going at the particular speed they like, but they could also keep pushing you to the brink—no reason to give in.
- The tailgater could also be the proverbial brain surgeon on the way to save a life. But they are willing to risk yours in the process.
If the tailgater is important, they usually ride in a car with blue lights and sing the siren’s song to get you off the street. And yes, when an emergency vehicle has the sirens going, everybody in their way is required legally by law and according to the vehicle code and common sense to move over and get out of the way.
What is a safe driver – like yourself – supposed to do?
In most situations the thing you don’t want to do is is going faster, in that case you are increasing the risk of injury and also of a speeding ticket. It’s a high-risk, no-reward strategy for you.
On a multi-lane road, you can move over to the slowest lane. In a more urban setting, however, the best course of action seems to be to slow down and drive in the right-most section of your lane. Your dance partner is obviously refusing to take care of your safety, but that doesn’t mean you are not in charge. Safe Distance is a formula based on safe speed, and luckily, the front car has total control of Safe Speed. Remember you are the leading dance partner and still in control, and with a bad or inexperienced dance partner, it is always better to go slower.
By slowing down, a few things can happen:
- Your risk for severe injury goes down
- Lower Safe Speed requires less Safe Distance
- Your risk of getting a speeding ticket stays low
The California Driver’s Handbook (Section 8) also wants you to create more space in front of your vehicle. And slowing down a little would achieve that goal, too. Depending on what happens behind you, you might need that space in front. Being sandwiched in between two cars would increase your risk even more.
And for a moment, let’s assume we are dealing with a once-in-a-lifetime case. The driver behind you really is a brain surgeon on the way to their emergency colonoscopy. They now have a far better chance to overtake you at your slower speed. And if they break the law doing so, then that is their risk and their problem to explain this to the authorities and not yours.
Post.Scriptum.
Now, if your favorite team lost their Pro Bowl Flag Football game yesterday and you really, really want to express your feelings through ballroom dancing, I would still recommend The Argentine Tango over the Viennese Waltz. It feels like Tango is a dance that expresses a little bit more attitude.
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in all blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Redwood City Pulse or its staff.
