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Florida driving lesson · Driving Safety Fundamentals

Following distance

A 3-minute lesson from the Florida course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Driving Safety Fundamentals
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
69, 70

Rear-end collisions are almost always caused by following too closely. Space ahead is time to react. Florida recommends at least four seconds in good conditions, and more whenever conditions get worse.

4 seconds

Minimum following distance in favorable weather and traffic

Handbook p. 69 ↗

Check your following distance:

  • 1. Watch the rear of the vehicle ahead pass a fixed marker such as a sign or light pole
  • 2. Count: "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three, one-thousand-four"
  • 3. If you reach the marker before "one-thousand-four," you're following too closely
  • 4. Slow down and count again at another marker until you're at least four seconds back
Handbook p. 69 ↗

Increase your following distance:

  • In rain or on wet roads
  • In low visibility: dusk, dawn, nighttime, fog
  • When being passed, so the pass can be finished safely
  • When carrying a heavy load or pulling a trailer
  • When stopped behind a vehicle on an incline; it may roll back
Handbook p. 69 ↗

Also increase it when following:

  • Motorcycles: they fall more easily on wet or gravel roads and metal surfaces like bridges
  • Emergency vehicles
  • Vehicles that must stop at railroad crossings: city and school buses, hazmat carriers
  • Trucks, buses, vans and trailers whose drivers may not see you behind them
Handbook p. 70 ↗
500 feet

Never follow a fire truck responding to an emergency closer than this

Handbook p. 70 ↗
300 feet

A truck or vehicle towing another must not follow another truck or towing vehicle this closely

Handbook p. 70 ↗

Know the rule

The 300-foot truck rule doesn't apply when overtaking and passing, or within cities or towns.

Handbook p. 70 ↗

Know the rule

If someone is following you too closely, slow down and keep to the right.

Handbook p. 70 ↗

Put it into practice

It starts raining on the highway. The car ahead passes a mile marker and you reach it at 'one-thousand-three.' Even in dry weather that is too close. In rain, ease off and build more than four seconds of space.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

What is the minimum recommended following distance in favorable weather and traffic conditions?
  1. 1 second
  2. 6 seconds
  3. 4 seconds
  4. 2 seconds

Answer: 4 seconds

Keep a minimum following distance of four seconds during favorable weather and traffic conditions.

Handbook p. 69 ↗
To check your following distance, you count the seconds after the vehicle ahead passes a stationary marker. If you reach the marker before finishing the count, you are:
  1. About to be rear-ended
  2. Driving too slowly
  3. Following at a safe distance
  4. Following too closely

Answer: Following too closely

If you pass the stationary marker before finishing your four-second count, you are following too closely.

Handbook p. 69 ↗
When should you increase your following distance beyond the standard minimum?
  1. In rain or low visibility
  2. Only when above 55 mph
  3. When following a small car
  4. Never, four seconds always applies

Answer: In rain or low visibility

Increase your following distance in situations like rain, low visibility, or when carrying a heavy load.

Handbook p. 69 ↗
How closely can you legally follow a fire truck that is responding to an emergency?
  1. No closer than 300 feet
  2. No closer than 500 feet
  3. No closer than 100 feet
  4. No closer than 1,000 feet

Answer: No closer than 500 feet

It's against the law to follow a fire truck responding to an emergency closer than 500 feet.

Handbook p. 70 ↗
A truck towing another vehicle must not follow within how many feet of another truck or towed vehicle?
  1. 100 feet
  2. 200 feet
  3. 300 feet
  4. 500 feet

Answer: 300 feet

A truck or any vehicle towing another vehicle must not follow within 300 feet of another truck or vehicle in tow; this doesn't apply to overtaking/passing or driving within cities/towns.

Handbook p. 70 ↗
If a vehicle is following you too closely, what should you do?
  1. Slow down and keep to the right
  2. Speed up to open distance ahead of you
  3. Brake suddenly to discourage them
  4. Change lanes repeatedly

Answer: Slow down and keep to the right

If you are being followed too closely, slow down and keep to the right.

Handbook p. 70 ↗
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