Full📏 Following distance
Maintaining a safe following distance is the last of the six graded on-road actions — and the easiest to lose points on without noticing. Ohio's manual teaches a following interval you can count: pick a fixed object, and if you reach it before the count is done, you're too close. Behind motorcycles, and in rain or poor light, the gap grows.
What the examiner is watching for
- ✓A measurable gap behind the vehicle ahead — counted, not guessed
- ✓Extra space behind motorcycles and large vehicles that block your view
- ✓The gap widening in rain, low light, and heavy traffic
- ✓No tailgating in stop-and-go traffic — smooth spacing instead of brake-tapping
Step by step
- 1Pick a fixed object ahead; when the car in front passes it, count off the interval.
- 2Reach the object early? Ease off until the count is comfortable.
- 3Behind a motorcycle or a truck, add to the count — one needs the room, the other hides the road.
- 4In rain or at night, stretch the gap further and brake earlier than feels necessary.
Mistakes that cost points
- ✗Closing the gap in slow traffic — following distance is graded at every speed
- ✗Tailgating a truck that hides what's stopping ahead of it
- ✗Keeping the dry-pavement gap on a wet road
- ✗Watching only the bumper ahead instead of two or three cars up
The other 5 skills OH grades
FullPass is an independent study aid. Road-test guidance is written from official BMV test requirements; your examiner and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles remain the final authority.