What's the point of knowing your stopping distance, as the Highway Code insists we do?
That's the question posed by road safety campaign Safe Speed, following today's publication of a survey which finds that 56 per cent of drivers admit tailgating while 90 per cent don't know their stopping distances at some speeds.
Road safety campaign Safe Speed suggests that we "read between the lines" of the survey, which was commissioned by tyre and brake fitter Kwik-Fit.
- Not knowing your stopping distance in meters is of no consequence because it is impossible to measure metres on the road ahead.
- Tailgating is widespread but significantly under-represented in the accident statistics. While it's arguably not as dangerous as it's made out to be, it is strongly indicative of poor risk management.
Campaign founder Paul Smith said: "Knowing your stopping distance in feet or metres is of no practical use to drivers because we can't jump out at 70mph with a tape measure to check if we have time to stop. Instead we must - and we do - develop excellent judgement skills that show us how long it will take to stop in the visible road environment. We know we're good at it every time we bring a vehicle to a stop at a roundabout or a junction.
"It turns out that neither knowing your speed in miles per hour nor your stopping distance in metres is of any practical assistance to the process of driving on the roads. Instead we have to develop judgement and of course we do.
"The figure of 56 per cent of drivers admitting to tailgating reveals how much room there is for improvements in road safety through driver information and education.
"Despite the fact that we have the safest roads in the world based on the superior risk management skills of our drivers, there is much room for improvement. The government is making us into worse risk managers with endless demands that drivers obey the rules. Instead we need better information and better education.
"Any good road safety policy will build on our skills as risk managers. Present policy is making us worse at managing risk and managing risk is what matters."