In wet or snowy driving conditions, what is the recommended minimum following distance?

• A. At least four seconds; increase for heavy rain or snow
• B. Two seconds
• C. Six seconds
• D. One car length

Answer: (A)

When roads are wet or covered with snow, traction is reduced, so it takes longer to stop and there’s a greater chance you’ll need more time to react. That’s why you should keep a larger following distance in these conditions. The recommended minimum is four seconds behind the vehicle in front. A simple way to gauge this is to pick a fixed object ahead and count seconds from when the lead vehicle passes it to when your vehicle passes the same object; if you reach four seconds or more, you have a safe buffer. If conditions are worse—heavy rain or more snow—increase that gap further, since stopping distances can grow significantly. Shorter gaps, like two seconds or one car length, aren’t enough on slick roads, and while six seconds would be very cautious, four seconds is the baseline for safety in wet or snowy driving.