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Difficulty: MediumSpace Ahead and Following Distance

A commercial driver is operating a 6060-foot tractor-semitrailer combination unit at a steady speed of 35 mph35\text{ mph} along an urban commercial corridor under dry, daylight road conditions. According to standard commercial driver space management rules, what is the minimum recommended following distance, in seconds, that the driver should maintain behind the lead vehicle?

Answer: 6 seconds

Answer

6 seconds
According to standard commercial motor vehicle safety guidelines, drivers must maintain at least 1 second of following distance for every 10 feet of vehicle length at speeds under 40 mph. For a 60-foot commercial vehicle traveling at 35 mph, the required following distance is 60 divided by 10, which equals 6 seconds. Because the speed is below 40 mph, no additional second is added.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Calculate the base following distance based on vehicle length
6 seconds (from 60 ft ÷ 10 ft/sec)
Commercial driving safety guidelines mandate a minimum base cushion of 1 second for every 10 feet of vehicle length.
2
Check the speed threshold for adding an extra second
0 additional seconds required
The additional 1 second is only added for speeds at or above 40 mph; the vehicle is operating at 35 mph.
3
Sum the base following distance and speed modifier
6 seconds total
Adding 0 seconds to the 6-second baseline yields a total minimum following distance of 6 seconds.

Key Concept

CDL Following Distance Formula (1 second per 10 feet of vehicle length, plus 1 second at or above 40 mph)
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Space Ahead and Following Distance

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