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Drivers ignore the two second gap rule

Dicing with disaster

A third of drivers ignore or are unaware of the two-second distance rule

  • 32% of drivers admit to being unaware or choosing to ignore the two-second distance rule
  • Government statistics show that 21% of cars are being driven too close to the one in front
  • AA Accident Assist data shows the problem is exacerbated in the Winter, where rear-end smashes increase by 25% compared to the rest of the year
  • “Playing fast and loose with a safe distance from the vehicle in front is much more likely to end in disaster” says AA Accident Assist MD

3 November 2023

A third (32%*) of drivers are unaware of or choose to ignore the two-second rule according to research by AA Accident Assist.

The poll of 13,400 drivers found that tailgating is the behaviour that significantly irritates driver the most (29%), followed by both middle-lane hogging and talking on the mobile phone while driving (both 21%).

Women are most irked by a vehicle that is too close to their back bumper, with 34% identifying it as the most irritating driver behaviour compared to 27% of men.

“And if you crash into the back of someone or hear a vehicle being hit further behind, we now know that there is more than a one in 10 chance that the impact will lead to a shunt down a line of cars.”
Tim Rankin, managing director of AA Accident Assist

Driver’s lack of adherence to the two-second distance rule has particularly negative consequences in the Winter. AA Accident Assist** data shows that accidents caused by cars driving too close to vehicles in front and failing to stop in time increase by a quarter. Worse still, more than 10% of rear-end crashes lead to concertina shunts, involving at least three vehicles.

2 second rule graph

Statistics by the Department of Transport*** support this finding, show that a fifth of car drivers are driving unsafely and irresponsibly by ignoring the Highway Code’s two-second rule for a safe distance between cars.

“We’re coming to the time of year where playing fast and loose with a safe distance from the vehicle in front is much more likely to end in disaster,” says Tim Rankin, managing director of AA Accident Assist.

“And if you crash into the back of someone or hear a vehicle being hit further behind, we now know that there is more than a one in 10 chance that the impact will lead to a shunt down a line of cars.

“Applying the handbrake when stationary is the companion to following the two second rule. Both prevent needless damage and injury, particularly whiplash and worse for older and more fragile car occupants.”

* Yonder received 13,400 responses from AA members to its online poll between the 11th to 19th September 2023. Yonder is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

**Accident Assist and Recovery | Road Accident Assistance | AA (theaa.com)

*** Vehicle speed compliance statistics for Great Britain: 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)