A new campaign showing the serious consequences of tailgating has gone live from National Highways.

Tailgating is a factor in one in eight collisions on the strategic road network

Urging drivers to ‘stay safe – stay back’, the latest campaign includes a wealth of materials that fleets can distribute to their employees to help encourage driving best practice, including when they’re being tailgated.

Tailgating is the biggest single bugbear that drivers have about other motorway users; nearly nine out of 10 (87%) drivers say they’ve experienced or witnessed it. And in a survey by National Highways, 25% of drivers admitted to driving too close to the car in front, making it difficult to stop in an emergency.

But it’s also a factor in one in eight collisions on the strategic road network.

The Highway Code says you should “allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in front on roads carrying faster moving traffic”. The two seconds are made up of the time needed for thinking and stopping. And when it’s raining you need to at least double that gap.

So, if drivers don’t leave a minimum two-second gap, they could be putting themselves and others in danger.

Nigel Mansell, CBE, former British Formula One World Champion and honorary president of IAM RoadSmart, said: “There is absolutely no upside to tailgating – you will not get to your destination faster, you are not a skilled driver for doing it, and you are putting so many innocent people at risk. So, I very much back this campaign to highlight the dangers of tailgating.”

As well as urging drivers to stay aware of how dangerous or intimidating their driving could be, the National Highways campaign tells drivers what to do when being tailgated.

For more details, click here.