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There is almost no danger driving 2' behind another vehicle, except for the cosmetics on the bumpers. Even if the lead vehicle slams on their brakes, the relative speed at impact is under 8 MPH. Pilots flying in really close formation know this. At 200 mph, a NASCAR driver can't ease over to the wall and touch it because of air pressure, but he can swerve into it from farther away.
I can sympathize with the mythbusters for overdramatizing the danger, because a long train of close tailgaters would need progressively better reflexes if the lead vehicle slowed slightly, and they are in the entertainment biz anyway, but they promoted another myth. Perhaps we will get electronically controlled brakes to allow close following.
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