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"Definition: The minimum distance that should be kept between two vehicles traveling in the same direction on the same road. When the vehicle ahead passes a road marker or sign, the car behind it should pass the same marker or sign roughly two seconds later. In the case of poor road conditions the time lapse should be three or four seconds. "
in dry conditions as they are, it is a fact, the safe minimum distance is indeed two seconds to be safe.
checking the blind spot is going to take 1 to 2 seconds. the average human response to any stimulus is 1 second, before the brakes are in action. meaning that i was at least 3 seconds away, and if i would have been exactly 3 seconds away then i would have hit the guy. the fact that i didn't means that i was more than 3 seconds away... besides the fact that i had to hit the brake an then swerve, i was at least 5 seconds away from the guy. moving at 65 mph is the same as moving at 95 feet per second. being 1 second behind the guy in front means being 95 feet away. being 2 seconds away, the minimum, is being 190 feet away. being that i was a minimum of 3 metres away (otherwise i would have hit the guy), means that i was at least 285 feet away.
being more than 3 seconds away means that i was at least 4 to 5 seconds away from the guy. any less and i would have hit him. being 5 seconds away is being approximately 450 feet away from him.
that means i was driving 135 metres behind him. the facts are there... 135 metres is not close, d00d. consider that there are 3 seconds shaved off of that and it'll be only 2 seconds before i'm in his ass. i've got 2 seconds to slow down and swerve. he sure stopped fast, but he did not decelerate slowly (his deceleration was not equal to mine... but much faster, as he did not have to account for reaction time nor observation), nor uniformly, and was most certainly going 0 to 5 mph by the time i started to brake.
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