You shouldn&#x27;t even <i>want</i> to accelerate immediately at the same rate as the car in front of you, unless you&#x27;re very optimistic about 1) having instant reflexes on the brake pedal even though your foot is currently on the gas pedal, and 2) your car&#x27;s stopping distance being exactly the same as every other vehicle.<p>Having a time delay on your acceleration means that your following distance will increase as speed does, which is the safe behavior. I&#x27;ve had plenty of times when I thought &quot;woo, we&#x27;re accelerating, it&#x27;s the end of the traffic jam!&quot; and then had to hit the brakes when we came around a turn into more traffic. Traffic might be reduced if we all rode everyone&#x27;s bumper all time time and accelerated as a single unit, but that doesn&#x27;t mean we can actually <i>do</i> that without tons of collisions.