Following and stopping distance — Georgia Permit Test

A rear-end crash comes from following too closely, and Georgia says the gap has to be enough for you to stop safely if the vehicle ahead slows or stops without warning.

You cannot brake until you see the brake lights, and by then the other car has already begun stopping.

A rear-end crash is caused by following another vehicle too closely.

To measure your following gap, pick a landmark, and as the car ahead passes it count one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two; if you pass the same spot before you finish, you are too close.

Counting works at any speed, which is why it beats trying to judge a distance in feet.

When it passes a reference point, such as a telephone pole or street sign, count "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two." If you pass the same spot before you are through counting, you are following too closely.

Georgia says to leave a bigger gap in bad weather, in construction, in heavy traffic and at night, every time.

Everything that makes the road harder also makes your stop longer, so the gap has to grow with it.

During inclement weather, during construction, during heavy traffic, and always at night, the distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you should be even greater.

How far it takes to stop your car is what decides a safe driving speed, and Georgia lists the driver, the pavement, the tires, the frame, the brakes and the wind as things that change it.

Two cars at the same speed stop in different places, and you only find out which yours is once.

The distance it takes to stop your vehicle is important in determining a safe driving speed.

Speed leads the causes of serious injury and death in crashes, because the faster you are going the greater the force of the impact.

The force does not climb in step with the speed, it climbs far faster, which is why a little more hurts a lot more.

Speed is a leading factor in serious injury and death as a result of traffic crashes. The greater the speed, the greater the force of impact.

Georgia asks a driver to stay out of another driver’s blind spot, because a driver who cannot see you in the mirrors may pull out in front of you to pass.

Sitting where nobody can see you means the next lane change is made as though you were not there.

Stay out of another driver's blind spot. Traveling in a position where the driver ahead of you cannot observe your vehicle in the rear view or side mirrors is a dangerous practice

What does Georgia name as the cause of a rear-end crash?

Following the vehicle ahead too closely. You cannot brake until you see the brake lights, and by then the other car has already begun stopping. Georgia Driver's Manual, p.109: “A rear-end crash is caused by following another vehicle too closely.”