ROAD ACCIDENTS- STAYING ALIVE, THINKING AND STOPPING

Have you ever thought about how far back you should stay behind the annoying driver of the vehicle in front of you during an outing with your family? Perhaps the following information may help you to decide whether or not you are doing fine right now.

Below are listed extracts from various links in order to streamline this discussion. The relevant links are supplied for your convenience at the end.

The table below gives vehicle-specific data on stopping distances. Hope your car is listed. If not, just find one that you can reasonably compare yours with.
BRAKING DISTANCE FROM 90 km/hr and 120 km/hr
Honda Integra GS-R
42
74.4
Audi A4
43.5
80.7
BMW Z3 (2.8)
36.9
64.5
Ferrari 550 Maranello
33.6
59.7
Lexus ES300
42
73.8
Lexus LS400
45.3
78
Mazda MX-5
45.6
76.8
Mazda Protege
47.4
86.1
Mercedes C36
36
63
Mercedes SLK230 Kompressor
36
62.7
Nissan Maxima
42
72.9
Nissan 200SX
38.7
68.4
Saab 9000 Aero
36.6
66.3
Subaru Liberty RX
40.8
70.8
Toyota Camry V6
43.5
82.2
Toyota Corolla
55.8
95.7
Porsche 911 Carrera 4
37.8
66.9

However, if you prefer to use time instead of distance to stay alive, you can use the “two-second” rule:

“….if you left a two second gap and the vehicle in front stopped almost instantly, as it might do if someone pulled out of a side road, then at 30 mph you would stop safely, at 40 mph you would hit the wreck at 9 mph, but at 70 mph you would hit the wreck at 48 mph.”

How do you determine a two-second gap while driving? Well, here’s how:

“Two seconds is about how it takes to say "only a fool breaks the two-second rule". When the vehicle in front passes a landmark, for example a bridge, say to yourself "only a fool breaks the two-second rule". If you reach the landmark before you have finished then you're too close.”

Seriously though, try to keep your stopping gap above the standard thinking distance of 0.7 seconds, even when your favorite song is playing or your better half is chatting you up. Otherwise….

Of course, the two-second rule is not a static figure, just as you don’t normally drive at a particular speed all the time. So, do your utmost to change it to a four-second or six-second rule as your speed increases, or even into an eight-second or ten-second rule according to how the weather and / or other road conditions are changing.

Four components constitute the total stopping distance of any vehicle, namely:

· Human Perception Time
· Human Reaction Time
· Vehicle Reaction Time
· Vehicle Braking Capability .
Note that the first two components above are measured in split seconds (one quarter to three quarters of a second) and are human factors; and as such, can be affected “by tiredness, alcohol, fatigue and concentration levels.”

Finally, the braking capability of a vehicle in turn depends on factors such as:
· the type of braking system,
· brake pad material,
· brake alignment,
· tyre pressures,
· tyre tread and grip,
· vehicle weight,
· suspension system,
· the co-efficient of friction of the road surface,
· wind speed,
· slope of road,
· surface smoothness
· the braking technique applied by the driver.

For more information and greater details about the above topics, please see the following links:
http://www.tulsa-smith.blogspot.com
http://www.soulcast.com/bronx/
http://www.sdt.com.au/SDTCOURSESPAGE.htm and
http://validator.w3.org/check/referer.