You leave a gap, another car moves into it, and suddenly you are close to the vehicle ahead again. Or someone sits close behind you and you start feeling pushed to drive faster than the traffic allows. Following distance can feel like something other people keep taking away.
The useful response is to manage the space you can control. At Licence Link, our good-conditions starting point is at least two seconds below 70 km/h, and more than two seconds at 70 km/h and above. Increase that gap further whenever the conditions, visibility or vehicle require it.
Three seconds is one example of a larger gap, not a compulsory minimum at that speed or a guarantee of enough room in every situation. The aim is to give yourself useful time to notice, decide and respond, rather than treating the number as a target to follow as closely as possible.
Why measure following distance in seconds?
“Leave a couple of car lengths” does not account for how far you travel as speed increases. A gap that looks comfortable in slow traffic can disappear quickly when the vehicles are moving faster.
A time gap gives you a way to check the space against your actual movement. You compare when the vehicle ahead passes a fixed point with when you reach the same point.
For scale, at a steady 100 km/h, two seconds of travel is about 56 metres and three seconds is about 83 metres. Those are distances travelled during the count, not promises about how far your car will take to stop.
That distinction matters. The road surface, visibility, reaction time and the vehicle all affect what space you need; a count is a practical check, not a complete description of the situation.
How to check your gap without guessing
Use a fixed landmark ahead, such as a sign or pole beside the road. Keep scanning the road while you check; do not fix your gaze on the landmark or turn the whole drive into a counting exercise.
- Start with the vehicle ahead: When the rear of that vehicle passes the landmark, begin your count.
- Count steadily: Use our cue, “one one thousand, two one thousand”. If checking a three-second gap, continue with “three one thousand”.
- Compare your arrival: If the front of your vehicle reaches the landmark before the count finishes, you have less than that amount of time between the vehicles.
- Adjust smoothly: If the gap is too short, create more space progressively as conditions allow. Check again at another suitable landmark rather than assuming one adjustment has solved it.
Do not speed through the words to make a short gap seem acceptable. The count is there to help you judge time, not to prove that the distance you already chose was right.
Two seconds, two-plus and three seconds
The difference is easier to understand when the numbers have a purpose. Our starting point for ordinary car driving in good conditions is:
- Below 70 km/h: Leave at least two seconds, with more whenever the situation needs it.
- At 70 km/h and above: Leave more than two seconds. “Two-plus” means a larger gap, not a new fixed number that automatically suits every road and condition.
- Three seconds: A useful example of a larger, easy-to-count interval. It is not the only possible gap and it is not a maximum.
This is Licence Link’s coaching approach, not a legal speed threshold. WA’s published guidance recommends at least two seconds in good conditions and more when conditions require it.
Do not interpret “two-plus” as finding the smallest fraction above two seconds and declaring the job done. If traffic is changing quickly or you cannot see enough ahead, give yourself more room and adjust your speed to suit what you can actually manage.
What does WA law require?
For ordinary following, WA law requires enough distance to stop safely in an emergency without running into the vehicle ahead. It does not set a universal two- or three-second number for ordinary cars.
That is why a time gap is guidance rather than a legal guarantee. Meeting a count does not make an unsuitable gap safe, and a gap may need to be larger even when you are below the speed limit.
This article focuses on ordinary car driving. Long vehicles and some towing combinations have additional spacing requirements in particular circumstances; do not assume this short guide replaces those rules.
When the gap needs to grow
The question is not only “How many seconds have I counted?” It is also “What might make it harder for me to see the next change or respond to it?”
- Rain or a poor road surface: Allow more space and reduce speed to suit the grip and conditions. A gap that felt comfortable on a dry road is not automatically enough after the surface changes.
- Reduced visibility: Darkness, spray, fog or an obstructed view can reduce what you can see ahead. More space is useful, but it does not replace choosing a speed that suits the distance you can see.
- Towing or a different vehicle: Do not assume the vehicle will respond like the car you usually drive. Allow for its characteristics, weight, loading and any additional requirements.
- Changing traffic: Watch beyond the nearest bumper where possible. Brake lights further ahead, a building queue or repeated speed changes are reasons to prepare before the vehicle directly ahead reacts.
Three seconds is not an all-weather answer. Sometimes you need substantially more space, a lower speed, or to reconsider whether it is sensible to continue in those conditions.
The purpose is to keep reassessing, not to settle on one number at the start of the trip. The same journey can move from clear traffic into rain, spray or a queue within minutes.
What if someone moves into your gap?
It can be frustrating when you have deliberately left room and another driver occupies part of it. But the remaining gap is now the one you have to manage, regardless of what you think of their decision.
Rebuild space smoothly rather than accelerating to protect it or braking sharply to make a point. Where appropriate, ease off progressively and let the gap increase; if the situation genuinely requires braking, brake to respond to it.
On the Kwinana or Mitchell freeway, entry traffic and lane changes can change the gap more than once. That does not make leaving space pointless. It means checking and rebuilding it is an ongoing part of the drive.
Our Freeway Driving guide covers the separate questions of merging, lane changes and exits. Here, the useful habit is to respond to the gap you have now rather than defend the one you had a moment ago.
Read Freeway Driving 101: Merging, Exits and Lane Discipline →
What if someone is following you too closely?
A driver close behind can make an ordinary slowdown feel more pressured. You cannot control their following distance, but you can avoid letting that pressure remove your own space in front.
Our cue is: “Slowly increase the gap in front if needed. Never brake-check.” Create the extra space progressively, without abrupt braking to punish or warn the other driver.
The purpose is to give yourself more room to respond smoothly if traffic ahead slows. It is not an instruction to crawl along, block someone, or ignore a hazard because you are worried about the car behind.
Do not accelerate into an unsafe gap ahead or exceed the speed limit to satisfy them. If there is a lawful, safe opportunity to let them pass, use it without a rushed lane change or manoeuvre.
Extra space does not guarantee what the other driver will do. It gives you a more useful situation to work with than being squeezed between a close follower and the vehicle in front.
Common following-distance questions
Does a larger gap mean I should drive slowly all the time?
No. Following distance and speed are related, but they are not the same thing.
Once you have a suitable gap and traffic is moving steadily, you can maintain it at a speed appropriate to the road and conditions. The goal here is to maintain flow. Avoid repeatedly closing up and dropping back; aim for a useful gap that you keep checking as the situation changes.
Does a three-second gap mean I can stop in three seconds?
No. It measures the time between the vehicles passing the same point, not your car’s total stopping time.
You still need to notice the hazard, respond and bring the vehicle to a stop. Do not use a following-time count as a promise about braking performance or a substitute for attention.
At 60 km/h, a two-second gap is about 33 metres. A vehicle braking ahead normally continues moving while it slows, but you cannot assume that both vehicles will stop in the same distance or that your reaction will be quick enough.
Now imagine a collision brings the vehicle ahead to a much more abrupt stop. If it is stationary 33 metres ahead when you notice the danger, and your total stopping distance in those circumstances is 45 metres, there is not enough room to stop before reaching it. The 45 metres is an illustrative assumption, not an average or a promise about your car. The point is that a two-second gap does not guarantee enough room for every sudden change ahead.
What happens to the rule when traffic stops?
The landmark method is for moving traffic. When both vehicles are stationary, there is no passing-time interval to count.
Do not roll close to the vehicle ahead just because the time-gap calculation no longer applies. Our visual stopping reference is the point where the top of your dashboard lines up with the bottom of the rear tyres of the car ahead, where those tyres meet the road.
That view varies with the vehicle and your seating position, so use it as a reference rather than a fixed-distance guarantee. Check that you have left appropriate clearance, and leave more room when the situation requires it.
Is this only something learners need to practise?
No. A licence does not stop a driver from falling into the habit of following the nearest bumper or reacting late to a changing queue.
A refresher can be as simple as noticing when your gap becomes short, what prompted it and how you restored it. The goal is more deliberate decisions and paying attention to the changing conditions in front of you.
Make your next drive a useful check
On a familiar route in suitable conditions, check your following gap at a few appropriate points. Notice whether it changes after someone joins your lane, when the speed increases, or when you feel pressured from behind.
Once safely parked, note one observation and one response: “The gap shortened after the lane change, so I rebuilt it smoothly.” That gives you something specific to improve without trying to score every second of the drive.
Our Commentary Driving: Spot Hazards Earlier and Make Clearer Decisions article explains how to connect what you notice with what might happen next and the decision you make. You do not need to narrate constantly to start noticing those connections.
Read Commentary Driving: Spot Hazards Earlier and Make Clearer Decisions →
Build a clearer approach to following distance
You do not have to wait until you feel completely confident before asking for support. A useful starting point is knowing which part of your driving feels rushed or unclear and working on the observation, timing and decisions behind it.
The Licence Link Defensive Driving Course is a three-hour, face-to-face course for $297, with automatic and manual options. It is for licensed drivers, from red and green P-platers through to full licence holders who want to improve their skills or confidence.
The session includes briefing, practical coaching and debriefing, with priorities shaped around the areas you want to improve and the driving observed during the session. Freeway merging, lane changes and multi-lane planning are possible focus areas, or maybe parking is still something you avoid doing.
Drivers from across the Perth metropolitan area are welcome. Participants travel to our Bull Creek meeting point, south of the river. Bull Creek is where we meet, as it provides close access to all driving environments including the City, freeways right through to heavy industrial areas.
Your included resources are a personal digital feedback form and relevant digital cheat sheets. No subscription is needed. The aim is to leave with clearer priorities for your driving, not a guarantee that one session will remove every difficult moment.
Explore the Defensive Driving Course if you want practical help managing space and making your driving decisions feel less rushed.