Driving directly behind a car or truck is very dangerous. If the vehicle in front of you needs to stop suddenly, you will simply not have enough time to break and you will likely be in an accident. Many Florida car accidents and truck accidents are caused by tailgating, and many drivers do not realize that they are tailgating.
If you are following behind a passenger vehicle traveling on good roads, with little traffic and good visibility, you need to have at least three seconds of space between you. This means that when the car in front of you passes a landmark, you should be able to count “one elephant, two elephant, three elephant” slowly before your car passes the same point. In bad weather, poor visibility, bad traffic, or at high speeds, you will want to leave more room.
If you are driving behind a truck, you should leave even more space to avoid a Florida truck accident. This is because large trucks have large blind spots behind them. If you are following directly behind a truck, chances are that the driver cannot see you. You should make certain that you can see the truck driver in the driver’s side mirrors. If you cannot, the driver likely cannot see you, either.
The second reason you want keep well behind trucks is that trucks take much longer than passenger vehicles to come to a complete stop. The stopping distance for a passenger vehicle is an average of 133 feet in ideal conditions at 55mph; for a commercial tractor-trailer, it’s 196 feet. In good weather conditions, give yourself at least five seconds of space behind a truck. In most conditions, leave more room than that. .
If you have been in a Florida truck accident, contact the Flaxman Law Group to set up a free initial consultation to discuss your options. With thousands of cases successfully completed and law offices in Miami, Homestead, and Hollywood, the Flaxman Law Group is poised to serve the South Florida community. Call today to arrange your free accident consultation