Lots of people complain about tailgating, and I have found in my career that new drivers are often extra paranoid about cars behind them. They have grown up listening to their parents complain about slow cars, and they are very worried about holding up people behind them or getting rear-ended. I usually tell my new drivers that if you can still see both headlights of the car behind you, they are further back than you think.
The right way to keep what we call a good following distance and not become a tailgater, is to follow the three-second rule. If you are travelling down the road behind another car you always want at least three seconds between cars. Now I know some of us, (ehem, older folks,) learned some strange thing about having ten feet for every ten miles per hour of speed, which is not a bad way to judge if you posses some idea of math and spacial awareness. I’m not that good at figuring out how far I am especially at high speeds. An easier way to tell is to watch the car in front of you. When they pass a stationary object like a shadow, line on the road or mailbox, start your counting. When your car gets to that same point, you stop counting. Make sure you are counting actual seconds, so count Mississippi’s or hippopotamus’ or something to ensure actual seconds pass. You want to have reached at least three seconds by the time you get to that same shadow, line or mailbox. More is good, less is bad. I found this great video clip to demonstrate how and why:
We’ll chat another time about the concept of why on earth anyone would tailgate a drivers ed car. Thanks!