What is stopping distance?

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Braking distance is the distance that the vehicle will move in the direction of its initial movement from the start of the braking system to a complete stop. Here it is important not to confuse this concept with the concept of a stopping path. The stopping distance is the distance that the vehicle will travel from the moment the driver realizes the need to brake and until the vehicle stops moving. That is, we add to the first definition the time spent by the driver to react, and the time the brake system is turned on, and we get the second. Both of these concepts are inextricably linked to any ground vehicle that has a brake mechanism.

Stopping distance depends on a large number of factors. For example, for a car, these factors would be:

• parameters of the road surface (primer, asph alt, concrete);
• quality and degree of wear of the tread (summer tires in winter will extend the path to the nearest obstacle, and winter tires in summer will lead to hydroplaning in a puddle and there);
• weather conditions (dry, rain, snow);
• the state of themselvesbrakes (are the pads good, are the hydraulics leaking, etc.);
• presence or absence of an anti-lock braking system (ABS prevents the wheel from locking and allows you to use friction more efficiently and maintain control over the steering during braking);
• degree of vehicle load (the heavier the vehicle, the more inertia it has);

• initial speed (the most important factor, stopping distance is directly related to the square of the car's speed).

As is clear from the above, the stopping distance is a variable value, the empirical and theoretical approach can determine it very inaccurately. Usually, the initial speed of the vehicle during an accident is calculated from the length of the path. For the driver, on the contrary, it is important to know how much his car will slow down at such a speed.

The braking distance of a motorcycle is usually longer than that of a car, because, firstly, it has two wheels less, that is, the contact patch of the wheels with the road is small, and secondly, there are two brakes, front and rear. Moreover, both have their own specific application and you can’t just “slow down to the floor”. When making emergency braking, controlling a motorcycle is much more difficult than a car, and most of the rider's reflexes will be occupied with the question: “How not to get killed?”, Not “How to stop faster?”. This does not mean at all that a motorcyclist will necessarily crush a pedestrian, in most cases he will simply go around him.

The braking distance of a train is generallyseparate topic.

All rail vehicles can move either forward or backward, so there will be no skidding or overturning. The driver does not need to control the direction of movement, only the operation of the braking system. At the same time, the coefficient of friction here is low, the mass is large, and the distance that the rail train will travel to a complete stop is often more than one kilometer. Very often, underestimation of this feature of trains leads to tragedy.

It is important to remember that the driver of any vehicle must choose a safe speed for his movement. It is better to clearly understand what the stopping distance will be than to watch later how it is measured.