Tip for a Tuesday....

 Leave plenty of room....

between you and the car in front of you.

In order to avoid this:

Did your Dad regale you with stories of his narrow escapes during his driving career while teaching you how to navigate the large machine you were now commanding?
I thought that one tale, in which my Dad described that he had to "stand on the brakes, " was merely an expression he used to illustrate the intensity of the experience.
That is until a couple of weeks ago - when I literally stood on my brakes!

While traveling north on the Garden State Parkway, I suddenly became aware that the traffic in front of me had slowed dramatically.  Well, that's what I thought. To my horror, I realized that they had in fact abruptly stopped their vehicles - from a speed of 65mph. 

Realizing they did not have enough room, the car directly in front of me pulled sharply to the left, onto the shoulder.  This left me a chance to stop before crashing into the car in front, which I managed to do with literally inches between us. At the same time, I could see in the side mirror that the van behind me also pulled to the left in order to avoid hitting me in the rear.

It's one of those experiences in which you think, "No, that's not what's happening" while at the same time thinking, "Oh my God, we're going to all crash!"
Why yes, I was literally shaking as we all resumed our travels and got back up to speed.

Oh, and the reason that several cars suddenly came to a stop?
An unmarked police car was on the right side of the road, with his lights flashing.

Seriously? We needed to STOP for that?
Slow down, absolutely!  But there was no need to come to an abrupt stop.

So again - my "tip" is to leave plenty of room between you and the cars in front of you in case you too need to stand on your brakes. 
Those extra feet can mean the difference between a multi car crash or just being a shaken, but very grateful driver.