I’ve noticed it’s become common practice on highways for cars to follow closely to intimidate you into moving out of the way. I’m talking about the situation where I am in the passing lane, as close as I can safely get to the car in front of me and passing vehicles to the right. So I’m not just sitting in the passing lane blocking traffic – I’m using it properly. It’s scary because if someone ahead hits the brakes, there could be a chain reaction. What should I do in this situation? – Debbie, Ontario
Often, the safest way to get rid of a tailgater is to let them get their way.
“Just move over [into the right lane],” said driving expert Tim Danter. “Once they pass, get back into it.”
So if you’re in the left or middle lane passing cars to your right and there’s a car on your tail, move into that lane when you can.
“Maintain your lane position with a steady speed until it is safe to signal your intentions and make the change to a safer lane,” Corporal Michael McLaughlin, a spokesman for B.C. Highway Patrol, said in an email. “Then execute the lane change cautiously and predictably.”
Other than moving, there’s nothing else you can really do, Danter said.
Still, some drivers get intimidated into making unsafe moves when a car is on their tail, he said.
“A tailgater can [make you anxious] and force you to go faster and creep ahead,” he said. “Now all of a sudden, you’re tailgating the guy ahead of you.”
Plenty of drivers get angry and want to hit the brakes to send a message, Danter said. That’s illegal – and could cause a crash.
And if you speed up, they might too.
“Regardless of what you do, that tailgater is probably still going to be there,” he said. “If you go 10 kilometres an hour faster, they’ll go 10 kilometres an hour faster.”
Plus, if they push you into speeding, you might be the one to get a ticket.
“It’s important to remember that speeding is illegal [in any lane],” McLaughlin said. “Someone else [speeding behind you] does not give you a legal excuse to speed.”
Keep your distance
What if you can’t change lanes right away – say, if you’re boxed in?
Slow down gently, without hitting the brakes, to give yourself plenty of space from the car in front of you, Danter said.
“Ease off the throttle,” he said. “It’s still your responsibility to keep a safe following distance.”
You want to be far enough away that you won’t have to slam on the brakes if the car ahead suddenly stops.
“You want to be able to see and respond to things in time without ending up in a crash,” Danter said.
So how far should you be from the car in front of you?
In Ontario, the law states you shouldn’t follow another vehicle “more closely than is reasonable and prudent,” but it doesn’t give a specific distance.
We checked the laws in other provinces and couldn’t find any that give a minimum following distance for cars (some, including Ontario, specify a minimum distance for commercial vehicles).
But most provincial driving manuals recommend a specific following distance – and they measure it in seconds instead of metres or car lengths.
The idea is that you pick something on the road – such as a sign or street light - and start counting when the car in front of you passes it.
At city speeds, it should take you at least two seconds until you pass it, Danter said.
“On a highway, you’re going to increase that to three seconds,” he said. “And in [bad weather or on slippery roads], you increase it – I always add on another second.”
If you do it a few times, you should get a sense of how much distance you need without having to count, Danter said.
Why measure in seconds instead of car lengths? Most drivers aren’t good at guessing distance – and using seconds automatically gives you extra space at higher speeds, he said.
“Two seconds is two seconds, whether you’re at 50 or 100 [kilometres an hour],” Danter said.
But if you leave all that space, won’t another car just pull into it?
“Of course people are going to come into that space,” Danter said. “Then you just adjust again.”
Space invaders?
But isn’t getting out of a tailgater’s way just letting them win, especially if you’re following the rules?
“No, it’s not a contest,” Danter said. “When you get behind the wheel of a car, it’s your responsibility to be a safe driver and stay out of a crash.”
Tailgating is risky. For example, in Ontario in 2022, the most recent year with available data, following too closely was a factor in more than 27,000 crashes – 13 of those were fatal.
But it’s not your job to teach tailgaters a lesson or enforce the law, he said.
“[For] A lot of tailgaters, that’s their normal – that’s just the way they drive,” Danter said. “And they keep doing it because [they’ve never had a crash]. Well, one of these days, guess what?”
Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. E-mails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article included a quote that contained inaccurate distance estimates for two seconds of driving at different speeds. That quote has been removed.