I would say that 1 car length &#x2F; 10 mph is actually a very short following distance. If an average car is 15 feet in length, at 60 mph, that is only 90 feet. At 60 mph, 90 feet of following distance is only 1.02 seconds. (1 mph == 1.4667 fps)<p>When I was taught to drive, we were told that 2 seconds of following distance was appropriate.<p>This just reinforces your point that the typical human driver leaves insufficient following distance.