Are You A Tailgater?

It first happened to me sometime in 2021.I can’t remember exactly when in 2021.For more than seventy-two hours,I couldn’t get my acts together. October 11,2022 was my second experience. I can’t remember how long but the October 2022 experience was perhaps the worse. I just couldn’t scale through what to write or how to go about it. My brain practically went numb.

Then I remembered Louis Odion; my friend ,colleague and a gifted writer. Louis once schooled me on the challenges of writing; especially a writer’s block .He told me it is the creative slump that writers face when they don’t know what to write. Louis reminded me that the slackness to write is not as a result of loss of commitment or lack of the skills to write.

When the recent one happened, I rolled out all the tips and practically applied them to break through the wall,yet,I couldn’t determine the problem. I couldn’t also bring myself to reading any of my favourite writers’ or books. I tried to change my writing routine. I even tried doing something different such as movies and music. Even my early morning walk,and spending time to prepare my morning apple tea with toasted bread couldn’t break the ice.

I also tried showering with hot water which is an easier task than writing just couldn’t help me think. As a proper Nigerian, I thought a glance at some crispy Naira notes or even a dollar would lighten me up. This also failed me. My thoughts then flashed through to the superlative reviews of the recent victory of Arsenal over Liverpool where we took Liverpool to the cleaners. Even this sweet victory also failed to raise my creative arsenal.

While I was reminiscing on how to navigate out of my dilemma, my phone rang. I glanced at my phone and behold it was my precious and gifted eight years old friend, Bernice. My excitement I must confess was boundless for several reasons. First is that Bernice is a bundle of joy to behold. The second is that I love her smiles and how she teases me whenever we see. Thirdly,I love her naive way of saying,’’I missed you’’.There are others but for now let me just inform you that,just before her call which threw me off my feet,I had spent some time reflecting on how much I have missed her.

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So when her call came, we spent some time ‘gisting’{talking}. For over ten minutes , she took me through school activities for the day and her school friends as well as other talking points.She then iced our gist by telling me how much she had again missed me. I was so glued to our discussions,her innocence and naivety that I just didn’t wish the call would end soon. As usual, network played the usual trick and ended the call abruptly. As soon as the call ended,I realised that Bernice’s call was the elixir I needed to come out of my block. I immediately got my grove back all because of my sweet,lovely Bernice that I fondly call Princess.

Just then,my mind raced through one of the most dangerous driving habits. I then surfed the net and stumbled on a piece that painted the picture of how the sight of a driver in your rear-view mirror following too closely can be upsetting. The picture painted was based on a survey that revealed strangely that drivers in the United Kingdom rate tailgating as the driving behaviour that distracts them most.

According to the survey, a thousand drivers were asked to rate driving occurrences’ based on how distracting they are.Thirty percent of those surveyed tagged tailgating as the most distracting which according to the National Highways is a leading cause of driver distraction and accounts for one-in-eight crashes on Britain’s roads. The survey stated that a driver travelling at 70mph will ‘cover 62 metres every two seconds. What this means is that that driver will need around 96 metres to stop, making adequate stopping distances absolutely critical to curtail the tailgating problem.”

Next to tailgating, the survey identified children or other passengers which accounted for twenty-six percent while traffic accounted for twenty-one percent. What the survey showed is that distraction could either be from a reckless driver or a screaming child in the car especially one that is not properly strapped depending on the age as provided in the National Road Traffic Regulations.

So what is tailgating?Why do some drivers tailgate and how should you prevent this bad driving behaviour. Before I dwell on this subject,I must remind you that as a driver,the one antidote for driving safe is driving defensively. Tailgating therefore is when a driver indulges in the typical kiss me driving peculiar with lagos drivers and impatient drivers. It is when a driver drives behind another vehicle without leaving sufficient distance to stop to avoid a collision should the vehicle in front stop abruptly.

Tailgating means the driver behind is not keeping a safe distance between his vehicle and the vehicle in front. Safe distance in driving is a factor of the speed at which you are travelling, visibility and other environmental conditions. This is why a driver at all times should keep a safe distance that should be greater than almost half of the speed in meters or alternatively a time gap of two seconds as provided in the Highway Code which I know most drivers rarely read and internalise.

When a driver tail-gates, it means that the driver is not keeping a safe distance between his vehicle and the vehicle ahead. So what is the two seconds rule? The two-second rule is a rule of thumb which enables a driver maintain a safe distance no matter the speed. What this rule says is that a driver should in practice stay at least two seconds behind the vehicle that is in front of his vehicle. This rule is is not cast in stone and as such what I do when driving is to adopt the three or even five seconds rule to stay alive.