Stopping distances Flashcards
1
Q
What is stopping distance?
A
- The minimum distance required to stop a vehicle in an emergency
2
Q
What is the total stopping distance equal to?
A
- The sum of the total thinking distance and total braking distance
3
Q
What is the thinking distance?
A
- The distance that the car travels during the drivers reaction time
- The distance the car travels between the driver seeing the hazard and the driver applying the brakes
4
Q
What is the braking distance?
A
- The distance taken to stop under the braking force
- How far the car travels after the brakes have been applied
5
Q
What factors affect thinking distance?
A
- Speed of vehicle: the faster the car, the harder to spot hazards
- Reaction time: how long it takes the driver to react to the hazard
- Reaction time could be effected by how tired the driver is, if they are under the influence, if it is dark, etc
6
Q
What factors affect braking distance?
A
- Speed of vehicle
- Mass of vehicle
- Condition / quality of brakes
- Condition of road: traction between car and road
7
Q
What happens to the braking distance if the speed increases?
A
- The braking distance increases exponentially