What is the safe following distance in snowy conditions?
2 Answers
Here is relevant information about safe following distance when driving in snowy conditions: 1. Pre-judgment: When driving on icy or snowy roads, maintain high levels of attention and foresight, making pre-judgments about potential events to take measures in advance, preventing accidents caused by inaccurate operations during emergencies. 2. Maintain safe distance: Remember not to drive too fast (recommended speed is around 40km/h), and keep a sufficient distance from the vehicle ahead (at least three times the normal following distance). If the vehicle behind is following too closely, you can gently tap the brake to illuminate the brake lights as a reminder for the following vehicle to maintain distance.
The biggest fear when driving in snow is not being able to stop in time, so the safe following distance should at least double compared to normal conditions. I usually use the stopwatch estimation method: find a fixed reference point on the roadside, and after the car in front passes it, silently count '1001, 1002, 1003' in my head. If my car's front reaches the reference point only after counting to three seconds, it's considered acceptable. But on snowy roads, you should count to six seconds, and at a speed of 60 km/h, leaving a 200-meter distance is more reliable. I remember ten years ago driving an old Jetta up Changbai Mountain, with all fog lights on and still needing to maintain a distance of five car lengths. Once, during an emergency brake, the car slid over 30 meters on the snow, almost rear-ending the car in front. Now, even with an ABS-equipped car, I don’t take risks. If I follow too closely, the snow kicked up by the tires can also obscure the windshield.
