Safety Margins: Space, Speed, and Stopping

Leaving generous gaps gives you time to deal with mistakes—yours and other road users’. It’s how you stay out of the ‘no time to react’ danger zone.

• Keep a two-second gap in the dry, four seconds in the wet, and up to ten seconds in snow or ice.
• Rule 126: Drive at a speed that allows you to stop within the distance you can see to be clear.
• Increase following distance for large vehicles, motorcycles, or when towing.

Choose a roadside marker and say ‘Only a fool breaks the two-second rule.’ If you pass the marker before you finish speaking, you’re too close. Extend the count when conditions worsen.

• Thinking distance increases with speed—double your speed and your stopping distance quadruples.
• Keep tyres inflated and brakes maintained to achieve the stopping distances shown in the Highway Code.
• Plan ahead for downhill slopes or heavy loads; both lengthen your stopping distance.

• Rain: slow earlier, use gentle steering and braking to avoid aquaplaning.
• Fog: use dipped headlights or fog lights when visibility drops below 100 m and maintain a huge gap.
• Ice or snow: move off in a higher gear, accelerate gently, and keep revs low.