Twitter
Facebook
It’s 6:45 a.m. and the rush begins. Maybe you’re late leaving your house and traffic is flowing slower than you think it should.
You feel your patience wearing thinner with each passing moment. You start yelling at other drivers to get out of the way.
You’re accelerating, braking, accelerating, braking … anything you can do to get a bit further in your commute. Every little thing is rubbing you the wrong way.
You may not be speeding, but everything you’re doing is outside the bounds of safely following the traffic laws.
Recently, the 86th Airlift Wing safety office conducted a review of traffic mishap data and determined 25 percent of accidents caused by KMC personnel from April through June were caused by following the vehicle in front too closely.
German traffic law strongly recommends a safe following distance of one-half of the car’s odometer reading. For example, if you’re traveling at 20 kilometers per hour, your vehicle should be about 10 meters behind the vehicle in front of you.
In good weather you can also use the three-second rule – pick a stationary object ahead of you and count – you should pass the object in three seconds or more. In inclement weather, slow to a five-second rule.
While you may believe the person ahead of you is too slow, is it worth getting into an accident and possibly causing serious injuries (or worse)? Take a deep breath, give the person a break and try to enjoy the extra few moments.
