There are varying levels of safe driving distance. You can drive close enough to the car in front of you such that you can slow down quickly enough if they slow down from 70mph to 50mph, or if they slow down 70mph to 10mph, but gradually.
You can also drive further back such that you can slow down if the car in front slams on their brake and comes to a complete stop. This is the distance I am referring to which would be politically unpalatable to enforce.
I agree that people weaving in and out and tailgating and cutting people off are doing more harm than justified, but it all starts getting murky once the road hits capacity limits and people start trying to figure out the best way to optimize their travel times. Eventually, with enough congestion, the situation will deteriorate from stop and go traffic to crawling traffic to downtown Manahattan to Delhi and so on.
You can also drive further back such that you can slow down if the car in front slams on their brake and comes to a complete stop. This is the distance I am referring to which would be politically unpalatable to enforce.
I agree that people weaving in and out and tailgating and cutting people off are doing more harm than justified, but it all starts getting murky once the road hits capacity limits and people start trying to figure out the best way to optimize their travel times. Eventually, with enough congestion, the situation will deteriorate from stop and go traffic to crawling traffic to downtown Manahattan to Delhi and so on.