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Dashcam Evidence Strengthens National Highways Crackdown on Tailgating

Personal-space messaging with targeted legal guidelines drives a shift in driver behaviour to enforce safe-distance compliance.

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Overview

  • Close following contributes to one in eight collisions on England’s major roads and causes over 140 serious injuries or deaths annually.
  • A survey for National Highways found that 43% of drivers admit to tailgating and 60% report feeling anxious when others follow too closely.
  • The campaign reframes tailgating as an invasion of personal space to leverage emotional response and foster lasting behaviour change.
  • Drivers are urged to maintain a two-second gap in dry conditions, face a £100 fine and three penalty points for tailgating, and risk bans or prison if collisions cause serious harm.
  • Police Operation Snap has used submitted dashcam clips—including footage of a trucker tailgating on the M42—to identify offenders and support enforcement.