These days there’s no shortage of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to help mitigate accidents or prevent them altogether. One such system is known as a Following Distance Indicator, pioneered by automaker General Motors (GM).
Following Distance Indicator is one of many in a suite of GM active safety technologies. As its name suggests, this feature helps drivers keep a safe following distance from a vehicle traveling ahead in the same lane. The technology is primarily helpful in avoiding rear-end collisions that directly result from tailgating. This system also keeps drivers from violating local vehicle following-distance laws, which differ from state to state and even town to town in some instances.
A cousin to adaptive cruise control, Following Distance Indicator uses the vehicle’s forward-collision warning sensors to provide the driver with the amount of time between themselves and the car they are traveling behind, thereby letting them know if they are following too closely. The feature uses either a forward-looking camera or radar or, in some cases, both. This hardware scans directly ahead to monitor vehicles in the same pathway. The system will display the following time separating the two cars—between 0.5 and 2.5 seconds. It makes this calculation based on the distance between the two vehicles and the speed at which both are traveling.
The system displays dashes instead of numbers if a vehicle is not in the path ahead. If a car equipped with adaptive cruise control has a selected cruise set speed, it will not display the following distance indicator. In this case, the adaptive cruise control system does the work instead of the driver maintaining distance with a vehicle ahead.
To turn the feature on, select the Following Distance Indicator page display in the driver information center. Consider traffic and weather conditions when choosing a following-time interval to compensate for shortened stopping distances. Also, keep local following laws in mind.
Following Distance Indicator is currently exclusive to General Motors vehicles, including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC.
GM’s Following Distance Indicator helps drivers maintain a safe distance from the car directly in front of them. The result is a more confident and surefooted driving experience from start to finish. For more automotive technology articles, visit the Shopping Guides section of our website.
Jessica Shea Choksey is an experienced writer in the automotive field. In addition to JDPower.com, she was a correspondent for PBS’s MotorWeek. Her work has also appeared in AutoTrader.
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