Stopping and braking distances

Is the distance to a complete stop, by car, short or long?

Definitely longer than you think!

Safety distance

The safety distance is the distance that allows a driver to avoid colliding with the vehicle in front.

The higher the speed, the more distance you need to leave between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you. For example, if in this example the cars are travelling at 120 km/h, then the safety distance is 60 meters.

How to calculate the safety distance?

The "two seconds" rule can help you: Take a fixed point (tree, pole, etc.) and count to two from the moment the vehicle in front of you passes the fixed point. Do you pass the run-up after the two seconds? It's perfect, you respect the safety distance.

Reaction distance

Reaction distance is defined  as the distance traveled between the moment the brain perceives information and the moment the driver reacts to that information.

For example: On the motorway, a driver is driving at 120km/h and sees an accident occur in front of him. The driver will have traveled 36 meters before starting to press the brake.

Braking distance

Braking distance is the distance the vehicle travels from the moment the driver presses the brake pedal and the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

Caution: The braking distance varies depending on whether the road is dry or wet (see table below).

Stopping distance

The stopping distance is the sum of the reaction distance and the braking distance.