Tailgating 'on the wane'

Monday, July 31, 2006

Survey shows fall in tailgating on UK motorways
Drivers on M4 in Wales are worst offenders
Calls for more drivers to use the two-second rule

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Drivers on Britain's motorways are behaving better, according to a survey by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and the RAC Foundation.

The study, designed to observe the amount of tailgating on Britain's motorways, found that 26% of motorists were following traffic too closely. This is a significant improvement on the 40% figure from last year's survey.

IAM researchers observed more than 22,000 vehicles on eight motorways throughout the UK. The data was then fed to the RAC Foundation for analysis.

Drivers on the M4 in Wales were the worst offenders, with over 50% being guilty of tailgating. Motorists on the M5 were the best behaved, with just 1 in 12 drivers driving too close.

Despite the encouraging results, the IAM and RAC Foundation believe that drivers need to do more to reduce tailgating. The IAM's chief examiner Peter Rodger says that the two-second rule, where you keep a gap of two seconds between your car and the car in front, should become standard practice for every driver.