Reason to be scared...

[protege]

Sweet mother of Murgatroyd, had that idiot never seen a large truck braking?!

I was several cars behind a large truck slamming on the brakes once. We were on the parkway, well over the speed limit. Some idiot in a a sports car cut him off, forcing him to have to try to stop. That guy got off damn lucky--a fully-laden truck would have not only knocked him into next week, but possibly off the (elevated) ramp as well. Even several cars back...the amount of brake smoke was mind-boggling! Ever have a sudden fog come up at you?

[Jetfire]

My own rule of thumb when driving is the Rule of Mirrors. When following, I stay far enough back that I can see the mirrors of the guy in front of me. And when passing, I wait until I can see the headlights of the guy behind me in my own mirrors before pulling in (unless I have to pull in for other reasons, like passing in a Dead Man's passing lane with oncoming traffic).

My dad though; he can drive me nuts when driving with him. We were driving to Quebec via Maine/New Hampshire (the 2-lane highways that take you through the mountains and every little town along the way), and he had a habit of hanging out on the bumper of the log and transport trucks as we drove. I know he annoyed some of those drivers (they'd often pull to the side to let us pass when they could; but those areas are fairly rare), and mom and I eventually snapped at him for tailgating so bad. Only helps for a little bit sadly.