When we’re tired, have been driving for some time, or are simply eager to reach our destination, the temptation is often to increase your speed, even just a little—but is it really as safe an option as we think?
According to the Queensland Department of Road Transport, a mere increase of just 10 kilometres per hour (kph) can mean the difference between life and death in some circumstances. For instance, the extra 10 kph from 60 to 70 kph means it will take an extra 15 metres to stop.
As your speed increases, so does your stopping distance—and the result can be surprising, if not frightening. And, it’s not just the distance it takes to stop, but also the distance you travel before you react, which needs to be considered.
The Department advises that the average person takes about 1.5 seconds to react to a situation. That is, it takes 1.5 seconds to identify, analyse and react to an unexpected obstacle, animal or situation.
This means that at 60kph, a motor vehicle travels 25m even before the brake pedal has been touched; it then takes another 31m for the car to stop. That’s 56m in total from the time an average driver sees the risk on the road—and we all know that 60kph is not the typical speed travelled on the major highways and freeways—to the place where they come to a complete stop.
At 100kph, the reaction distance increases to 42m and the total stopping distance nearly triples, resulting in a total of 150m to come to a full stop (that’s one and a half times the length of a soccer pitch!). This distance can be further affected by the driver’s response time (which lengthens when they’re tired), the weather, road conditions, visibility, your tires and brakes.
As many families hit the road for their summer holidays, for your safety and that of other road users, we urge you to take care, stop frequently to rest, change drivers if necessary, and always resist the urge to speed. Stopping distances can be the distance between safety and tragedy. Please keep them in mind to make sure you and your family arrive safe this summer.
For more tips on how to travel safe this summer, we recommend visiting your State Department’s road and transport website.
