Great video, very well explained. Vehicles have got better, but drivers have got worse to compensate. I find it hard to believe that someone instructed that rider to be a *maximum* of 2s behind. Sometimes associates hear something completely different to what was said...
I was recommended your channel by my instructor. I'm booked in for my mod 2 test and your videos have helped me a lot, especially with road positioning.
Keep the 2 second rule in the back of your mind and use it whenever you want. Remember that its a MINIMUM AND NOT A MAXIMUM DISTANCETO GIVE The greater the distance the safer one is and that makes all others road users safer too. I learned with the RAC/ACU motorcycle training scheme in the 60's and everything then was in yards and not metres. For the sake of argument they are practically the same only 3 inches different in length. I was taught to be one lamp post behind another vehicle around town and the same applies today. Modern lighting has to be a regular distance apart to give a consistent light. About 40 yards then and 40 metres now. So lamp post are about 40 metres apart in the main and are very easy to see. Being 40 metres apart they can be the minimum distance that one gives to any vehicle in front and at a speeds in towns and up to 40 mph. Larger, wider vehicles give more distance. Then on faster roads say 50 and 60 mph. ones I like to give two lamp posts apart, that being about 80 metres or just over 240ft [ the H.C. stopping distance at 60 mph ]. So with simply using lamp posts that now makes it very easy to give those safer distances from 30 to 60 mph.. When we use them and get used to them we don't need the lamp posts anymore so if there are none we can still maintain a safe distance as it becomes the norm. On country or unclassified roads there may not be any lamp posts but there are telegraph poles or power line posts. They are usually about 60 yards/metres apart so they can still be used to keep a good safer distance Being some 60 metres apart, that is about 180 +ft. and so can be used for safe stopping distance at a speed of 50 mph and the giving of a little more distance will make it around the stopping distance at 60 mph. So be at least one telegraph pole behind another vehicle and stay safe. One thing that I have noticed with regards to tailgating is that whilst we look at the vanishing or limit point for bends, that distance of being clear on the road ahead and to stop in on our side of the road, that same distance does also apply to any other vehicle that is in front of us. They are the same distances and should at all times be adhered to in order to be safe, ourselves and other road users. So many times I have seen videos of advanced riding where on bends one is actually following another vehicle and just being some 40/50 ft. behind it but the bends visibility may be one hundred feet more than that. Its the distance to that vehicle in front of us which is of greater importance and of danger. If it brakes we would have difficulty in avoiding it. So whilst on bends there is a bend limit point the closer limit point is the actual vehicle in front and its that distance that dictates our speed and the safe stopping distance to it. If on a bend we can see say 175 ft. ahead that could give us a constant and safe speed of 50 mph but by only giving some 50 ft. of safe space in front of us, that vehicle in front constitutes the greater danger and therefore we should be at least some 175 feet, 80 metres or two lamp posts or one telegraph pole at least behind it.
Great video/ About time the myths were dispelled with . I have been on about safe following distances and the dangers of Tailgating for about 15 yeas or so and now you have a made the definitive video about how unnecessary it is and how dangerous it is. All about still making progress and with all of the benefits of the safe stopping distances. Well explained and executed it makes a difference from seeing advanced riders and instructors blasting about our peaceful country roads at max speeds and of the apparent necessity of overtaking everything in sight that gets in their way as a result.. It goes to show that if they just slowed a little and gave safer space they would not have to or be able to execute so many dangerous overtakes and lets face it overtakes are the most dangerous manoeuvre that one can make but apparently become necessary in order to, as they say maintain or make progress. If we all learn from this one video its that overtakes are not a necessity at all. That they are mainly required by police etc. in the execution of their duties and only when an overtake is deemed by them to be absolutely NECESSARY. That we as civilians do not have and will never have that NEED at all. By reducing the number of dangerous overtakes and thus no longer have the need to Tailgate others we would make our roads a much much safer apace for everyone. al othger road users and including ourselves. We are our own worst enemy.
always good to keep hearing these points so they get drilled in. I think frustration can sometimes play a part in getting too close, for example when on a twisty with national speed limit and some old dear is all over the road at 25mph and you just want to get past lol, but i suppose discipline & patience is another skill to learn.
Yes so true, that internal discipline and being chilled is one of the hardest things to learn for many. But it’s liberating if you achieve it! Ride safe
I remember the "Don't be a Space Invader" campaign a few years back to tackle tail gating, does not appear to have worked, great to ride along with you to see good practice at work. "Only a fool breaks the 2s rule" was certainly the mantra on the courses I have done, one that makes great sense, especially on a bike.
I saw a car with a rear sticker on that said just that and was a warning to all other car drivers to steer clear of his back end and give him space [ what amount of space it doesn't say ] ]and then I saw that he was only some 10ft behind another car and we were doing 30 mph. What a hypocrite.
Unfortunately common sense left many drivers a long time ago. I will tell you now that the Police and All advanced driving /riding authorities, encourages and therefore enables all road users to Tailgate for possible overtakes. The DVSA also recommend a closer position, to the Thinking Distance only at times in order to save valuable road space when in a queue Some ADIs teaching candidates for the test advise that the safe stopping distance is the distance that one can stop in in the event of that vehicle in front slowing and stopping and if one can also slow and stop without hitting it then that is obviously the safe stopping distance that one should give. That is a load of nonsense. but it satisfies the mind of learners who know no different and confirms to them that they are doing or giving the right space when they are not. Finally novice drivers and one's with little brain power see others doing it and so they copy them. That is why TAILGATING is of pandemic proportions nowadays.
Another good video mate, what is all this making progress boll#cks. This is why car drivers pose such a threat to riders, always rushing about. I've been riding since 1981 and the standard of motoring is appalling here in Kent. A lot of riders are just as bad, l took a ride out to Rye at the back end of summer, l was doing 60 along the Canal Rd to be undertaken by an idiot with his girlfriend on the back doing a ton. I'm not a perfect rider, getting old now. Lessons learnt in life though, biggest danger with tailgating a four wheeled motor is a pothole in the middle of a road that a car does not have to swerve to miss. Keep the kids coming . Maidstone boy, not a million miles from you.
Hi thanks for your comments. So true. It seems to be the way of the world. I agree, driving in Kent is indeed awful. You can’t even go a few miles without experiencing some form of stupidity. Very sad. Ride safe
Great video. As cars get safer and more capable, drivers feel they can take on more risk. I'm joking of course, but replace the airbag with a metal spike and you'll see an overnight change in driver attitudes😮
I see so many of these 'delivery riders' in particular, stop so close to the rear of the vehicle in front. I think to myself; it's only a matter of time.......
You mentioned the a*holes that manoeuvre into the 2 second gap you've left to the vehicle in front, and you mentioned that if keeps happening you are going further and further backwards. But you didn't actually suggest a solution. What are your thoughts on how to overcome the constant relegation behind vehicles filling your lovely gap?
No you are not going backwards, That is a fallacy. You are still making forward progress but more importantly safer than those around you who Tailgate, overtake and then cut you up and without cause or pressure to. They are the a*holes mentioned. So keep on allowing them to overtake and let them be a danger to someone else and not you. Better that they are in front of you and you can then give them safer space and avoid them rather than they being tied to your bumper with no where to go except collide with you in the event of you emergency braking.
Hi, thanks for your question. Rcraven1013 sums it up nicely. I think learning to not be possessive over being further ahead than the next guy helps. It’s quite a liberating mindset! All the best
