Keep a Space Cushion (continued)

At 35 mph you travel 51 feet in 2 seconds. That means if you are driving 35 mph you need to be 102 ft. behind the vehicle in front of you in order to be able to percieve and avoid an obstacle. You can either pick an object that passes the vehicle in front of you and count "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two." or count dashed center lines between the vehicle and yours. Dashed lines are 10 feet long and are 30 feet apart. Therefore, every dashed line represents an additional 40 feet between vehicles.

If you are going 35 mph and need to be at least 102 feet, about 3 dashed lines (3 dashed lines = 3 x 40 feet = 120 feet), behind yourself and the vehicle in front of you.

When traveling at 70 mph, use a 4 second interval. In 4 seconds there should about 410 feet between yourself and the vehicle in front of you. That is a little more that 5 dashed lines (5 x 40 = 200 feet).