Driver Safety: Proper Positioning – Toolbox Talk

You should also pay attention to proper positioning. Maintain proper lane position and spacing with respect to the other vehicles around you. Keeping your vehicle properly positioned will minimize the risk of a collision by keeping as much space as possible between your vehicle, other vehicles, and pedestrians or cyclists. If you let yourself get boxed in by other drivers or drive into another driver’s blind spot, you significantly increase the risk of a collision.

The distance between you and the vehicle in front of you should be determined by how much time you need to react in case of a hazard plus the stopping distance of your vehicle. You should always maintain a following distance of at least 3 seconds at 55 miles per hour under safe conditions. Choose an object near or above the road ahead. As the vehicle ahead passes it, slowly count aloud, “One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three.” If you reach the same object before you finish counting, you are following too closely.

When conditions are adverse, your speed is higher, you are driving a heavier vehicle or towing a load, these distances are greatly increased. If the driver behind you is tailgating, move to another lane if possible or, if necessary, slow down and pull off the road to let the driver go by you.

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