That's the finding of Direct Line Car Insurance following analysis of traffic flow data from nearly 6,500 sites on the Highways Agency motorway network.

Whilst nearly half of vehicles left less than the recommended two-second gap, 17% of vehicles travelled with less than one second apart. For vehicles travelling at speeds of 60-69 mph, 78% of cars had gaps that were less than their calculated stopping distances (73-94m), and 54% had gaps less than half the calculated stopping distances.

The research also found that the M1 near Leeds tops the list of motorway tailgating top spots, followed by sections of the M42 near Solihull (West Midlands) and M1 near Brent Cross.

Drivers on the M42 most regularly ignore the Highway Code’s two-second safe gap between vehicles, with four sections of the motorway between Solihull and the NEC, Birmingham, included in the national top 10 motorway tailgating hotspots.

Other key stats include:

• Police reports indicate that over 1,700 injuries (up to 15% of all injury collisions) on Highways Agency roads are caused by close following, including around five fatalities a year
• Young drivers are the most likely to be involved in tailgating accidents, with around 37% of these crashes caused by under 30s

Direct Line added that there are two underlying causes for tailgating:

• Driver error in assessing speeds and gaps in the traffic
• Drivers actively trying to close the distance with the vehicle ahead on purpose, and sometimes aggressively