Tailgating: A dangerous driving habit
A self-reported survey revealed Colorado is the worst in the nation for tailgating.
Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Texas are close behind Colorado’s ranking.
According to Drive Smart Colorado between January and May of 2014, in Colorado Springs, there were 4,021 traffic crashes. Of those crashes, 41-percent involved rear end collisions.
Local authorities said people need to focus on the road and avoid distracted driving. In hopes of lessening the number of accidents, patrols will be keeping a watchful eye on those drivers tailgating.
“If a driver is paying attention your reaction is about a quarter to a half a second and that is to say OK cars in front of me are slowing down, I need to figure out how to do this, I need to figure out how to stop. Then you need to activate your brake and then activating the brakes in your car can take another quarter-second,” said Richard Hunt, Colorado Springs Police Department.
Hunt advised staying two to three seconds behind the car in front of you on dry roads to avoid a rear end crash and doubling that time during inclement weather.
