Tailgating is the leading cause of traffic accidents in Warner Robins

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – For some tailgating means a Saturday well spent. But for residents in Warner Robins, it’s an issue drivers deal with every day.

Warren Robins Assistant Police Chief John Wagner says it’s the number one cause of traffic accidents in the city, accounting for nearly a third of all traffic accidents last year.

“It’s just purely a rear end collision. It could be a person stopping in front of you and you not leaving enough distance in between or you end up striking the back of the vehicle,” he said.

Wagner explained that distractions inside the car are a major part of why it happens so often.

“Listening to the radio, looking at your telephone or your children screaming in the back ground, you don’t necessarily need to be up under the bumper of another car to be following to closely,” he added.

Eliminating some of those distractions and slowing down on the road are just a few ways to avoid getting jammed up.

Warner Robins Police recommend leaving at least enough space between your vehicle and the one in front to fit in between. The average length of a car is a little over 14 feet.

“Just pay attention to the distance of a car in front of you…just having a safe distance that you can get around somebody or stop in time,” said Wagner.

Wagner told 41NBC now they’re taking creative measures to get through to more people with the use of a different type of distraction–Facebook. They posted a public service announcement video featuring lego animations.

“We’ve done a wonderful video to show what can happen in a tailgating accident with little lego cars.”

Wagner said the delivery was a little softer but still gets the message across.

“I thought it was pretty neat and catchy but it gives some hard truth and facts to the fact that you’re following too closely,” he added.

But, Warner Robins Police believe really seeing a decrease in the number of crashes starts with catching tailgaters in the act.

“What we’ve done is we’re trying to track the days, times and the hours of when we see the number of accidents occurring and we go out there and do enforcement,” said Wagner.

Officers would rather drivers get to where their going safe than after a tailgating collision.