15 Driving one after another

When driving one after another, a sufficient distance must be maintained, so that even in the case of sudden braking, the vehicle behind can stop in time. Abrupt braking and stopping are permitted only in an emergency and if no vehicle follows.

Rear-end collisions are among the most frequent accident types on the motorways and expressways of Switzerland. In most cases, rear-end collisions occur due to non-compliance with the distance or inattentiveness.

As a rule of thumb, the distance should be half as much meter as the speed in km/h during normal conditions. Time wise, the driver should be approximately 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front. To keep distance, count "21, 22" (for this you should take about 2 seconds).

The distance is to be increased if the driver in front of you drives uncertain (for example, learner driver) and in case of poor road and visibility conditions (for example, if the road is wet, snowy or icy, or if the fog is heavy).

If the traffic is stopped, the driver must not stop on pedestrian crossings and, in case of road junctions, not on the section of the road for traffic from other directions.