There are certainly tailgaters who do it on purpose, even though it is a very dangerous driving activity. A common example is road rage. Someone angry with another driver for going slower than they want or for making certain driving mistakes may intentionally tailgate.
But at the same time, there are also drivers who do not realize that they are tailgating. They may lack spatial awareness, so they do not understand that they are simply too close to the next vehicle.
Often, there is a pattern of behavior. These drivers constantly tailgate, so it begins to feel normal. They believe that it is a safe way to drive. The driver ahead of them may be very stressed, knowing that they are being tailgated and that they are at greater risk of an accident, but the rear driver does not even realize what is happening.
What should the following distance actually look like?
In many cases, the issue is just that the person keeps a short following distance. They may only be one or two seconds behind.
In reality, a safe following distance is three seconds. This does mean that the amount of physical space differs considerably, depending on the speed of the vehicles. A larger gap is needed on the interstate, for example.
Drivers can continually check their following distance by counting off three seconds after the vehicle ahead of them passes a specific point. If they do this, they start to understand what their following distance should look like, and they drive more safely.
Compensation after an accident
Unfortunately, you do have to share the road with many drivers who will tailgate. If you are injured in an accident one of them causes, be sure you know how to seek financial compensation.