STUDY * USA - New analysis highlights rear-end crash causes

Rear-end crashes are one of the most common claims for most fleet operations, whether comprised of light, medium, or heavy-duty vehicles, yet the cure for this issue remains relatively simple: increase the following distances between vehicles on the highway

USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Aug 18, 2008: -- ... Recent analysis of seven million crashes compiled by San Diego-based DriveCam Inc. showed that vehicles maintaining less than two seconds worth of following distance are at a significantly higher risk of rear-end collisions... Although recommended following distances can vary by weight and size of vehicle, most nationally recognized driver training programs advocate a minimum following distance of three or four seconds, explained Del Lisk, DriveCam’s vp-safety services. The company’s Risk InfoCenter then categorized rear-end incidents it reviewed from its database into two groups – those in which a subject vehicle’s following distance was less than two seconds and those in which following distance was two seconds or more... He noted that the right lane has pedestrians, parked cars and turning vehicles that are constantly disturbing traffic flow, while the left-most lane was the next most frequent lane for accidents since it can be impacted by traffic slowing or stopping to make a left turn. The center lane, however, had far fewer incidents of rear-end crashes...