With the football season in full swing, thousands of people are heading to the East Rutherford MetLife Stadium, the Farmington High School stadium, and local colleges to watch their favorite football teams. This means countless hours tailgating family and friends in the parking lots. However, this season, it’s important that you are aware of the other type of tailgating.
Tailgating simply means one vehicle following too closely behind another that is in front of them which increases the chances of a rear-end collision. Either the driver is unaware of how close they are to the vehicle in front of them, or they are driving aggressively due to road rage. If you are tailgating a car in front of you, you are putting yourself at an increased risk of a rear-end collision.
Below are ways you can avoid an accident due to tailgating whether you are the one tailgating or the one being tailgated.
Brake-Checking
First, if you are the one being tailgated, it might cause you to become frustrated and you may be tempted to ‘brake check’. This is where you hit your brakes suddenly to warn the other driver to back off. This is really not a good idea since it only increases the chances of a rear-end collision.
Not to mention, when you brake check, it could very well result in a confrontation that turns into road-rage violence. Therefore, the best thing to do when you have another driver tailgating your vehicle is to pull over to the right and let them pass you.
Keep a Safe Distance
Make sure you leave a safe distance between your vehicle and the one driving ahead of you. A safe distance is typically a minimum of 10 feet for every 10 mph between your car and the driver in front of you. This means, if you are driving 40 mph, 40 feet away is a safe distance. If you’re driving 70, then it would be 70 feet since faster speeds require more time to stop.
Don’t Get Aggressive
Forget the road rage and don’t let yourself become angry. Slamming on your brakes, making rude gestures or performing other provocative maneuvers is risky business. All of these are types of aggressive driving. Stay safe and don’t try to teach the other driver a lesson.
No matter if you have a vehicle in front of you that is driving slow and you’re in a rush or a vehicle is tailgating you, the best practice is to play safe and don’t tailgate. Accommodate the other driver when you can if they are tailgating you by staying calm and even pulling over to let him pass if need be. Lastly, be sure that you are covered with a good auto insurance policy in the event that you’re involved in a tailgating or other accident.
Request your free auto insurance quote from bolt insurance Agency online or by calling 1-800-216-4171.
