Newton's first law of motion, in its simplified form, states that a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
A car is a body in motion. Therefor it tends to stay in motion. This tendency is called inertia.
A body in motion has a certain momentum. Momentum is mass times velocity.
A fast moving car has velocity (its speed) and mass (its weight).
The faster and heavier a car is, the more momentum it has and the more force it has (inertia) to keep moving and therefor, the harder it is to stop.
Thus if you are tailgating, the faster you are moving, the harder it is to avoid hitting the car in front of you if that car should suddenly slow down.
The rule of thumb is: keep one car length between you and the car in front of you for every ten miles per hour of speed. This means that if you are going fifty miles per hour, keep five car lengths between you and the car you are behind.
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