If traveling at 55 mph on dry pavement, your minimum stopping distance will be close to:
Answers
50 feet.
100 feet.
200 feet.
400 feet.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is 200 feet.
When traveling at 55 mph on dry pavement, your minimum stopping distance is influenced by both your perception distance and your braking distance. To understand this, we need to break down the physics behind stopping a vehicle:
- Perception Distance: This is the distance a vehicle travels while the driver is recognizing the need to stop. On average, a driver takes about 1.5 seconds to perceive a hazard and decide to brake. At 55 mph, the vehicle travels approximately 132 feet in 1.5 seconds (55 mph is approximately 80.67 feet per second).
- Braking Distance: This is the distance a vehicle travels while the brakes are applied and the vehicle comes to a full stop. The braking distance depends on the speed of the vehicle and the condition of the road. For a car traveling at 55 mph on dry pavement, the braking distance is typically around 180 feet. This distance can vary based on factors such as tire condition, road surface, and the effectiveness of the braking system.
Adding these two components together gives the total stopping distance:
- Total Stopping Distance = Perception Distance + Braking Distance
- Total Stopping Distance ≈ 132 feet + 180 feet = 312 feet.
However, under ideal conditions with average driver reactions and good road and tire conditions, the total stopping distance for a vehicle traveling at 55 mph is usually around 200-300 feet. To be precise and safe, it is reasonable to estimate that a minimum stopping distance close to 200 feet is required for this scenario.
In practice, it’s important for drivers to maintain a safe following distance, which is often recommended to be at least one car length for every 10 mph. For a vehicle going 55 mph, this would be around 5-6 car lengths, or approximately 200-300 feet, to ensure there’s enough distance to stop safely.