The braking distance is an important technical characteristic of a vehicle. However, it depends not only on the operation of the braking system, but also on many other factors, for example, the type of tires installed on the car.
Braking distances
The braking distance is the distance that the vehicle under consideration managed to travel from the moment the braking system was activated until the moment the vehicle came to a complete stop. In this case, the moment when the brake system is activated is actually the second in which the driver pressed the brake pedal. Accordingly, a complete stop of the car is the moment when its speed has dropped to zero.
The standard braking distance is an essential characteristic of a car, which is indicated by the manufacturer along with the speed of acceleration of the vehicle. In this case, however, it should be borne in mind that in this case we are talking about movement on an absolutely flat horizontal surface with a specified speed. For example, the approximate braking distance at a speed of 50 km / h for a modern car is about 15 meters, and at a speed of 100 km / h, about 60 meters.
Determination of the braking distance
For an approximate calculation of the stopping distance, you can use the following formula: S = Ke * v ^ 2 / (254 * Fs). In this formula, the symbol S denotes the stopping distance expressed in meters, and the symbol v denotes the speed of movement. expressed in kilometers per hour. In turn, the designation Ke indicates the value of the braking coefficient, which for a passenger car is equal to 1, and the symbol Фс indicates the coefficient of adhesion to the road.
Thus, the most difficult to determine in this formula is the value of the FS coefficient. Usually, the following numbers are used as its value: the coefficient is taken equal to 0.7 in case of driving on rubber without spikes on dry asphalt along a flat trajectory, 0, 4 - when driving under the same conditions on a wet road, 0, 2 - when driving on rolled snow and 0, 1 - when driving on an icy road.
However, it should be borne in mind that the calculation of the stopping distance according to this formula is approximate, since it takes into account only the main factors - speed and weather conditions. At the same time, additional factors, such as the nature of the road surface or the type of tires installed on a particular vehicle, have an influence on the stopping distance. The braking method used by the driver in this case and other reasons also have an impact. They can have a very significant effect on the length of the stopping distance, being able to change it several times.
