Bad driving habit that's too dangerous and too common

CINCINNATI - Almost every morning many of you are delayed for one reason or another. Too many people on the roads, fender-benders, construction and occasionally a really bad accident, but why are there so many delays?

Tailgating in the biggest culprit for accidents, not texting or drunk driving. Drivers getting too close for comfort is behind 25 percent of automobile accidents in Ohio. That's 143,000 wrecks in the last two years, 84 deaths and 34,000 injuries.

And it's a bigger problem on Tri-State roads than you might think. With a camera attached to the back of a 9 News car, we drove around Cincinnati and Kentucky. No matter the roadway, tailgating was still a problem.

An officer we spoke to said the rule of thumb for distance is a car length for every 10 miles per hour. So what if a another driver won't give you breathing room?

Sgt. Clint Arnold with Ohio State Patrol said, "the best thing to do is move over, maintain vision, not stare at the motorist who was on your rear end. No hand gestures, nothing to magnify the issue."