A significant number of collisions in the southwest are the result of drivers following too close to the vehicle in front of them.

SGI's June Traffic Safety Spotlight highlights the 'three-second rule' and why it's important to keep in mind.

Tyler McMurchy, SGI spokesperson, is keen to remind motorists about maintaining a safe following distance behind other vehicles.

"With the summer coming up people will be taking road trips, heading out exploring this beautiful province of ours, and hitting the highways so we thought this was a good time to issue a gentle reminder," he said.

On average, more than 4,000 collisions in Saskatchewan each year are caused by following too close, along with over 750 injuries and an average of three fatalities.

"What you should do is choose a stationary object on or beside the road and as the vehicle in front of you passes it, count three Mississippis," said McMurchy. "Making sure that you aren't passing that stationary object before the last Mississippi."

He noted that in non-ideal conditions such as low visibility or when on loose gravel, drivers are advised to increase their following distance to five or six seconds to give them additional reaction time.

"Even for the collisions that don't injure or kill anybody, they obviously cause a significant degree of property damage when you're talking about slamming into somebody from behind," McMurchy concluded. "So, avoiding being responsible for those collisions will save you a lot of headaches."