When following behind a large vehicle, you should have at least how many seconds of following distance?

1. 1 second
2. How many seconds you leave depends on the time of day
3. 10 seconds
4. 3 seconds ✓

Answer: D. 3 seconds

You should have at least 3 seconds of following distance when riding behind a large vehicle.

Why this is the answer

The BC motorcycle handbook says to allow at least three seconds when you ride behind a large vehicle that could block your vision. It explains how to check that gap: pick an object ahead, start counting when the vehicle passes it, and if you reach the object as you say “three,” you have a three-second following distance. The handbook also gives two seconds as a general minimum in good conditions, but the instruction for a large vehicle raises the minimum to three seconds.

Why the other answers are wrong

• A. 1 second — One second is shorter than the handbook's three-second minimum behind a large vehicle, so it does not provide the stated gap.
• B. How many seconds you leave depends on the time of day — The handbook does not make the following distance depend on the time of day; it gives three seconds for a large vehicle and names other conditions for increasing space.
• C. 10 seconds — The handbook does not set ten seconds as the minimum behind a large vehicle; the figure it gives for this situation is three seconds.

Remember it

Pick a marker ahead and use the three-count to check your gap behind a big vehicle.