This is a press release courtesy of Eugene Police Department

Over the course of an operation focusing on drivers following too closely and speeding, officers with the Eugene Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit issued 80 citations Tuesday.  A few drivers received multiple citations.   Two vehicles were impounded.  Several dozen additional drivers were observed speeding or following too closely, but were not stopped because no officer was available at the time.

31 – Following too closely
36 – Speeding
7 – Driving uninsured
2 – Driving while suspended (violation)
1 – Driving while suspended (misdemeanor)
1 – Failure to carry driver’s license
1 – Failure to give safe distance to an emergency vehicle
1 – Unsignaled change of lane

Across the nation, including in Eugene, following too closely is one of the leading causes of crashes—competing in frequency with speeding, inattentive or distracted driving, and driving under the influence of intoxicants.  As drivers follow too closely, the risk of collisions rises dramatically—and the resulting crashes can have a serious financial and medical impact on the people involved. The Eugene Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit has obtained a new tool, Distance Between Cars–enabled lidar*, to help enforce the law against driving too closely. 
 
EPD purchased two new DBC-enabled lidar units and upgraded two existing units with the assistance of a grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation. DBC is an additional lidar feature that helps police officers enforce Oregon's anti-tailgating law by measuring how closely one vehicle is following another as both are traveling down the road. Prior to the availability of DBC lidar, officers had to rely on subjective visual estimates of following distance.  With DBC lidar, the following distance, elapsed time between vehicles, and the speeds of both vehicles can be precisely measured and presented in court. The lidar units also retain the standard function as speed measurement devices, so they have dual use.

The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles driver's manual recommends a minimum following time of two seconds with good visibility and road conditions, and even more if the roads are wet or icy.  The DMV-recommended following time is based on numerous studies of perception / reaction time, which is the time it takes for people to see and react to hazardous events occurring in front of their vehicles.  EPD traffic enforcement officers frequently stop and cite drivers for following times of well under one second.