Tips and Tricks: Safe Driving Distance

According to statistics the Directorate General of Land Transportation Department of Transportation, the human factor as the cause of road accidents reached 90 percent. These factors triggered the driver's lack of discipline to keep a safe distance with the car in front (Following safe distance). Here are some guidelines and benchmarks to determine a safe distance by Indonesia Defensive Driving Safety Driving Center in books in collaboration with Proton.

Interval of 3 seconds

Safe distance between vehicles when driving is 3 seconds. Assuming, human reaction typically takes 1.5 - 2 seconds, plus a mechanical reaction to the car when braking from 0.5 to 1 second. Then, for the benchmark can be used on stationary objects such as roadside trees, sign boards, billboards or other signs. How, when the car in front of you pass the sign, calculate how much time you need to reach that point. If less than 3 seconds means that the distance is too close.

The standard does not apply in times of rain. The ideal time interval to 4 or 5 seconds. Meanwhile, when passing on an icy road, the ideal distance can be doubled from the normal.

conventional distance

Department of Transportation introduced a simple way to measure a safe distance, the distance calculation is directly proportional to the speed of the car. For example, a car traveling at 60 kph means having a safe distance of 60 m. Similarly, while at 100 kph, auto ideally 100 m.

If it is difficult to estimate the distance, you can use the standard "cat's eye 'which is usually located in the middle of the road. The distance between these markers is 50 m. (Otomotif.Kompas.Com)