The Two-Second Rule


If I am lucky I will never have to experience my best driving moment again.

My wife and I were in the car and I was driving.  As we cruised along the freeway we did what most people do.  We were talking, listening to some music and enjoying each other's company.  Through all of this I was controlling the car mainly on instinct.

You know how it is.  Once you have driven so many miles and for so long, most of what we do in essentially unconscious behavior.  More often than not you get to your destination without any memory of long stretches of the drive.  You know you made lane changes, sped up, slowed down and turned but you really don't recall any of it. At least this is how it is for me.  I don't remember anything specific about the drive until.

Until it dawned on me that the cars in front of me were not just braking, they were stopped.  I had a very short time to assess my situation.

I looked at my speedometer.  Sixty-five miles M.P.H.

Behind me.  A car going just as fast.

Beside me.  Cars on my left and my right.

In front of me.  Those cars hadn't moved.

As I braked I checked my rear view mirror again.  The driver of the car behind me was not looking forward.  He was looking at the woman in the passenger seat and laughing.

I would guess that less than a half of a second had passed since I noticed the brake lights.  I knew I needed to stop and just assumed I would get rear ended.

At that moment some type of instinct kicked it.  I can describe it now, but it wasn't an action that I thought of and planned, I just did.

I looked into the mirror to watch the driver behind me as I  urgently pressed the brake.  As soon as I saw his face turn and his eyes explode in horror I knew he was braking but he wouldn't stop in time.  But I had slowed to about 10-15 miles per hour and there was 30-50 feet until the car in front of me.  In the instant that the car behind me made contact with my car I removed my foot from the brake and then slammed it on again.

The collision pushed me forward but the bumper did it's job and I stopped without hitting the car in front of me and the car behind stopped without making additional contact with our car.

Years later I learned about a law that has made my driving almost stress free.  It's the two-second rule. In my state you are required to remain two seconds behind the car in front of you.  I can attest that if you will take those two seconds, and perhaps leave five more minutes early, you can avoid not only accidents but the stress that comes from near misses as well.


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