The 3 Second Gap: How Far Back Should a Motorcycle Rider Follow?

Why 3 seconds?

The space in front of you is the part of your survival space that you control. As a new rider, a 3 second gap gives you:

• more time to stop in an emergency
• a better view over and around the vehicle ahead
• earlier sight of traffic signals, signs and hazards
• time to avoid potholes and other surface hazards
• more time to plan your response

It also adds to the safety margin of the traffic behind you. If you are too close, you may focus on the vehicle in front instead of thinking for yourself.

How to measure it

1. Pick a fixed reference point, like a tree or power pole.
2. When the vehicle ahead passes it, start counting: one thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and three.
3. If you reach the reference point before you finish counting, you are too close.

You will get better at judging it with practice, but keep checking yourself now and then.

When to leave even more

• poor visibility, for example at night or in rain and fog
• wet or otherwise slippery roads
• gravel or other unpredictable surfaces
• high-speed roads. The handbook says almost 40% of motorcyclist road deaths happened where the limit is 100 km/h.
• behind a truck, bus or other big vehicle that you cannot see around

Do not tailgate

Riding too close behind another vehicle leaves too little reaction time, however good your brakes are. A car can almost always out-brake an inexperienced rider in an emergency, and you also see less of what is ahead. If someone is tailgating you, drop back to widen your space in front and let them overtake. Group riding has a similar rule: see riding in a group. Car drivers have their own rule: the two second rule.

Based on The Victorian Rider Handbook (2023, Department of Transport and Planning) and the VicRoads motorcycle pages. This guide covers Victoria: other states and territories have different rules, and rules change from time to time, so check vicroads.vic.gov.au for the latest.