Skip to main content

Road Safety Trust to fund pilot scheme to reduce tailgating

Transport & Travel Research (TTR) and parent company Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) have secured funding for a pilot scheme to reduce tailgating by business drivers from the Road Safety Trust, a charity that funds research to support its objective of reducing road casualties. TTR is now seeking interest from potential local authority partners that would act as a host for the pilot in their area. Tailgating, or close following, is a widespread concern on UK roads. It makes drivers feel intimidated,
July 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Transport & Travel Research (TTR) and parent company Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) have secured funding for a pilot scheme to reduce tailgating by business drivers from the Road Safety Trust, a charity that funds research to support its objective of reducing road casualties. TTR is now seeking interest from potential local authority partners that would act as a host for the pilot in their area.

Tailgating, or close following, is a widespread concern on UK roads. It makes drivers feel intimidated, aggravates congestion and is a contributory factor in seven per cent of collisions says the 1837 Department for Transport in its Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2014 report.

According to the road safety charity Brake, 44 per cent of drivers are concerned about close-following most times that they drive on motorways; however, nearly 60 per cent of drivers admit to leaving less than the recommended two-second gap between themselves and the vehicle in front.

The project will focus on business drivers because on average they undertake high annual driving mileages and are involved in a quarter of road traffic collisions.

Practical interventions may focus on education, engineering or enforcement approaches or a combination of these.

The TTR and TRL team is now looking for local authority partners to work with them to recruit employers within the pilot area and develop a package of behaviour change techniques to measure and influence attitudes towards close-following.

Related Content

  • January 17, 2025
    Surewise calls for mobility scooter update to Highway Code
    'Unacceptable' that users are not already termed VRUs, insurer says
  • March 29, 2023
    GHSA and Ford funding aims to improve road safety for teenagers
    $94,000 in grants will support schemes in Missouri, Montana, New York and Oklahoma
  • June 13, 2013
    RAC report - motorists frustrated with road taxes
    According to the RAC’s 2013 Report on Motoring, the condition of the UK’s motorways and local roads, characterised by the now year-round problem of potholes, ranks as a top concern for motorists. While the cost of driving is understandably still the number one concern for nearly half (46 per cent) of Britain’s motorists, two in five (41 per cent) say maintenance of local roads and motorways is their top spending priority. In addition, 84 per cent of motorists believe their local roads are deteriorating and
  • October 29, 2013
    Drivers wary of safety benefits of EU vehicle control
    Research by the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has found that three quarters of drivers are concerned that the use of intelligent speed adaptations (ISAs) will compromise safety. Last month, the EU announced that it was considering rules for new cars to be installed with ISA technology, which would be capable of detecting speed limits through cameras or satellites and automatically applying the brakes. Existing vehicles could be forced to be retrofitted with the devices.