Free independent learning reference with original examples. Not official exam questions or personalized legal advice. Follow current provincial rules, signs and authorized directions.
Practise speed and school-zone decisions →Start counting at the lead vehicle, finish at your own
Pick a fixed landmark, such as a roadside post. Begin the count when the vehicle ahead passes it. If you reach that same landmark before the count is finished, the interval is too short for the handbook’s favourable-condition method.
Counting to a different landmark or starting when your own car reaches the point measures something else. Repeat the check after traffic merges into the gap or the speed changes. An earlier observation describes the earlier spacing, not every later moment.
Source: New Brunswick Driver’s Handbook — Part 5 ↗Keep the legal duty broader than the teaching number
Section 157(1) prohibits following more closely than is reasonable and prudent for speed, traffic and road conditions. A two-second count is not a defence against all of those conditions. The handbook calls for slower travel and a longer count when circumstances are unfavourable.
Section 157 also contains separate provisions for certain commercial, truck and towing combinations and for leaving room outside a local authority. The 60-metre provision has a specific scope; it is not a universal spacing rule for every passenger car in town.
Source: Motor Vehicle Act — §157 ↗Explain why the interval may need to change
Original worked cases
On a clear, dry road, the front car passes a sign. The learner reaches the same sign halfway through the two-second count. That reveals insufficient spacing for the described method.
Rain reduces visibility and grip. A driver keeps exactly the earlier two-second gap. The handbook calls for a lower speed and longer count in unfavourable conditions, not an unchanged target.
Another vehicle merges into a previously adequate gap. The original count no longer describes the distance to the new lead vehicle. Reassess the spacing smoothly and safely.
Use time to observe, not to certify a safe stop
A time gap helps make spacing visible to the learner. It does not measure tyre grip, the driver’s reaction or how abruptly the lead vehicle might stop. Keep scanning ahead rather than concentrating only on counting behind the bumper.
The free speed and safe-driving exercises ask you to interpret conditions as well as numbers. They use original scenarios and do not predict official test results. Read both the handbook guidance and the current statutory conditions when reviewing a missed answer.
Source: New Brunswick Driver’s Handbook — Part 5 ↗