You Tailgate When Driving Downhill

I live on a mountain; therefore, I have to drive on a 6-degree downgrade roadway to get into town. I also have to drive on a 6-degree upgrade roadway to get back home. The speed limit is 40 mph, but most cars go 50 mph downhill and 35-40 going uphill. That is not so much the problem, the problem is that every single driver tailgates going downhill, but none tailgate going uphill. The minimum, not to tailgate on a level road is the 2-second rule. On the downhill, 95% of the cars are less than 1-second, approximately 1-2 car lengths behind the front car, while traveling uphill on the same road they are 3-4-seconds behind the car in front of them, anywhere between 5 to 10 car lengths. Why? Wouldn't just the reverse be much safer?

Doesn't it stand to reason, because of the pull of gravity, that it would take at least three times the time and distance traveling on a steep downhill roadway to stop than when traveling uphill? These are the same drivers that do this everyday. Why?

One of the reasons is that it's easier to go faster downhill because the driver doesn't have to do anything. The car just goes down the steep grade all by itself. It's nearly impossible, on the other hand, for a driver to maintain his speed uphill as he has to do something that is very difficult; he has to press down on the gas pedal; therefore, he can't catch up to the car in front of him.

By tailgating only: 15,000 killed, 750,000 hospitalized, and 2.7 million accidents yearly in the United States. Keep up the "good" work.