Safe Communities of Wright County partnered with the Minnesota Departments of Transportation and Pubic Safety as well as the Wright County Highway Department for an experimental tailgating project. The Distance Dots project was a series of DOTS and informational signs along a two-mile section of Hwy 55 between Buffalo and Rockford to help motorists identify and maintain safe following distances. When traveling the posted 55 MPH a driver should have two DOTS visible between them and the vehicle they are following. This would allow for the recommended 3-second following distance.

A press conference to kick-off the project was a great success with attendance from all the major metro TV stations, local and statewide print and radio. The project drew statewide and national media and was even featured in an article in the New York Times.

The final project data collection did find an increase of 23 feet in the center of the project corridor. Average gap increases were 13 feet when combining all data points.