> Teaching a young inexperienced driver “just always keep one car length” where one = safe, is meaningless. Not if taught correctly, which I think it's importa

> Teaching a young inexperienced driver “just always keep one car length” where one = safe, is meaningless. Not if taught correctly, which I think it's important to note that we can't really do via textual communication. In the driver's seat, during a driver's education course, you might learn that a car length is the length of an average car, but you also learn how to count the seconds of stopping distance you have in front of you. In addition, you learn that weather, traffic, and other factors can affect stopping power/distance, the point being that the whole system is incredibly dynamic and variable. One can't reduce a dynamic traffic situation down to "X car lengths = safe." Similarly, saying "1 car length = a safe distance" doesn't really help either. The idea is to teach people what "safety" actually looks like. How it's referred to is secondary. The proof is in how badly I was misunderstood when I said 1-2 car lengths. I _know_ I'm keeping enough distance, because I know how to judge a safe traffic situation. I don't really care what a car length is or isn't, it's fairly irrelevant because safety is a much bigger picture than units of measurement.