Important! Proper Safe Car Driving Distance
5 May, 2022
Every vehicle owner must know the safe distance to drive a car on the road. This is for the safety of yourself and other road users given that many accidents occur due to drivers violating traffic rules, especially in maintaining a safe distance between the vehicles.
Driving on the road should not be done carelessly, but must follow the applicable rules. One of the important things to consider is maintaining a safe distance when driving to avoid the risk of accidents or collisions with other vehicles. If the car cannot maintain a safe distance when driving, the risk of an accident will be greater.
Maintaining a safe distance when driving has many benefits, especially to ensure safety. The following are some reasons why it is important to maintain a safe distance when driving that you need to know.
Reasons for Keeping a Safe Driving Distance
Maintaining a safe driving distance is something that all car drivers must obey. This is important to ensure safety while driving and avoid the risk of colliding with other vehicles.
So what are the reasons you should maintain a safe distance while driving?
1. Reducing Accident Risk
One of the most important reasons why every vehicle must maintain a safe distance when driving is to avoid the risk of multiple accidents. The distance between vehicles that are too close can cause a series of accidents because the car cannot stop on time even though the brake has been pushed on. This condition is caused because the car does not maintain a predetermined safe distance.
2. Avoiding the Blind Spot
Another reason why drivers must keep their driving distance is to avoid the vehicle’s blind spot area. By maintaining a safe distance, vehicles can see other cars behind them so they can avoid the risk of hitting other vehicles from behind.
For cars that are behind, providing distance to other cars allows the car in front to see the blind spot area better. This is certainly very useful when you need to make sudden braking or want to overtake a vehicle in the front.
Please note that maintaining a safe distance is one of the mandatory requirements if you want to drive on the streets, especially toll roads or freeways. However, for Wuling Almaz RS owners, maintaining a safe distance while driving is not a difficult thing to do. This is because the car has been equipped with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Save Distance Warning (SWD), ICA + TJA features which are useful for regulating speed in maintaining distance from the car in front of it. That way, the risk of accidents due to not maintaining a safe distance from the vehicle can be avoided.
Keeping a Safe Distance on the Highway
Regarding maintaining a safe driving distance according to the law, it has been regulated in the Law on Traffic Methods in Article 62 of PP no. 43 of 1993. The regulation explains the minimum distance and safe driving distance set by the Ministry of Transportation. For more details about the two types of driving distance, see the full review below.
1. Minimum Driving Distance
You need to know, what is meant by minimum distance is the closest distance between the car in front of it and the car behind it. Every driver must not cross the minimum distance because it is very risky to cause an accident.
- Speed 30 km/hr: minimum distance 15 meters
- Speed 40 km/hr: minimum distance 20 meters
- Speed 50 km/hr: minimum distance 25 meters
- Speed 60 km/hr: minimum distance 40 meters
- Speed 70 km/hr : minimum distance 50 meters
- Speed 80 km/hr : minimum distance 60 meters
- Speed 90 km/hr: minimum distance 70 meters
- Speed 100 km/hr: minimum distance of 80 meters
2. Safe Driving Distance
It is very important to adhere to a safe driving distance, especially when driving in bad weather conditions. One example is driving when it is raining and foggy where visibility is limited.
Not only that, in wet conditions, the braking process usually doesn’t work perfectly or takes longer time to process. By adhering to a safe driving distance, you can avoid the risk of an accident while driving.
Here is the safe driving distance recommended by the Ministry of Transportation:
- Speed 30 km/hr : safe distance of 30 meters
- Speed 40 km/hr : safe distance of 40 meters
- Speed 50 km/hr : safe distance of 50 meters
- Speed 60 km/hr : safe distance of 60 meters
- Speed 70 km/hr : safe distance of 70 meters
- Speed 80 km/hr : safe distance of 80 meters
- Speed 90 km/hr : safe distance of 90 meters
- Speed 100 km/hr : safe distance of 100 meters
Drivers can also estimate the safe distance to drive the car on the spot. The safe distance between the vehicle and the car in front of it must be approximately 3 seconds. This time is very appropriate and it is recommended to maintain a safe distance from other vehicles.
Keeping a Safe Distance on the Toll Road
Driving on toll roads is different from driving on regular roads. When driving on the toll road, you must comply with the speed rules that have been set as one of the traffic safety standards. This is because vehicles on toll roads are driven at high speeds, so there is a greater risk of having an accident if they do not comply with the rules.
Basically, the rules regarding a safe distance from the vehicle in front while on the toll road have been set by the Ministry of Transportation. Here are the details:
| Speed | Minimum distance | Safe distance |
| 60 km/hr | 40 meters | 60 meters |
| 70 km/hr | 50 meters | 70 meters |
| 80 km/hr | 60 meters | 80 meters |
| 90 km/hr | 70 meters | 90 meters |
| 100 km/hr | 80 meters | 100 meters |
Every vehicle that crosses the toll road must comply with the rules of the safe distance for vehicles. It is important to provide enough space given the possibility of the vehicle to brake or overtake vehicles in the front without risking an accident.
As is known, the vehicles that pass on the toll road are all driving at high speed. This certainly makes the risk of an accident greater if drivers do not comply with the safe driving distance rules. Therefore, each driver has to fully understand the rules regarding safe driving distances on toll roads as described above.
Make sure to always maintain a safe distance when driving, it is very important to pay attention to the safety of yourself and other road users. To ensure safety when driving, the Wuling Almaz RS is now also equipped with features that can adjust the speed to keep the distance from the car in front of it. Among them are the ACC, SDW, ICA + TJA features which will certainly make it easier for drivers to maintain a safe driving distance. That way, the risk of driving accidents can be minimized.
