What the Highway Code says
The Highway Code (para. 126), in relation to Stopping Distances, recommends that “you should drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear.
You should leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front so that you can pull up safely if it suddenly slows down or stops.
Allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in front on roads carrying faster-moving traffic and in tunnels where visibility is reduced.
The gap should be at least doubled on wet roads and increased still further on icy roads.”
It also points out that large vehicles and motorcycles need a greater distance to stop.
How Difficult it is to Blame the Driver in Front …
An English case decided in the Court of Appeal in 2011 illustrates how rare it is for courts to blame the driver of the car in front where it has been hit from behind.
There was not actually a collision between the vehicles here but the principles are the same.
On 31 July 2008, 69-year-old Valerie Steadman was a passenger on a London United Busways (LUB) 49 bus on Kensington High Street in London.
The bus was immediately behind a Ferrari sports car, driven by a Mr Sala.
Suddenly, the bus driver braked hard, causing Mrs Steadman to be thrown from her seat and suffer a serious spinal injury, resulting in tetraplegia.
The bus driver claimed that the Ferrari had braked without warning, requiring him to do an emergency stop to avoid a collision.
Mr Sala was not aware of any accident at the time and was only traced by the police sometime later. He denied that he had braked suddenly or done anything to cause the accident.
Mrs Steadman’s claim was against LUB but they tried to pass the blame onto Mr Sala.
The court had to decide whether the accident was the fault of the Ferrari or of the bus driver or a combination of the two.
The evidence included the two drivers, various other eye witnesses, experts and footage from CCTV cameras.
Bus driver entirely to blame
The court’s conclusion was that the accident was solely the fault of the bus driver.
Due to his impatience (which had led him to sound his horn on two occasions before the incident happened), the bus had been driven too close to the car in front, meaning that the bus driver did not have enough time to react to what was happening in front of him.
The judge said that Mr Sala’s main focus reasonably had to be on what was happening in front of him rather than behind him.
It was inconceivable that Mr Sala would have braked deliberately; he would not have put himself or his expensive vehicle at serious risk of being struck by a bus and, as a doctor, he would not have exposed the bus driver and passengers to risk of injury.
