And to combat this they have introduced drinking limits. Being under the influence - even legally - seriously alters how well you can judge hazards. Your body also moves less accurately. Late or missed braking results.
Also is the driver is distracted in any way or is not fully concentrating this increases the thinking distance.
Poor visibility is also a common factor this delays the time before the driver realises he needs to apply the breaks.
Thinking distance can be decreased
by using road signs to warn the driver that they might have to stop soon.
The more alert a driver is, the faster their reaction time,
the quicker they can apply the brakes
and the smaller is the thinking distance.
Factors affecting the breaking distance
In general
The braking distance is affected by 3 main factors
1. .
2. .
3. (friction).
Mass
If the mass of the vehicle increase(more passengers baggage) the vehicle will now have greater kinetic energy
If the friction between the tyres and the road is decreased e.g a wet greasy or icy road reduces the amount of friction and increases the breaking distance
Velocity
A faster vehicle has greater kinetic energy which increases the breaking distance
These are distances a car travels, over the time it takes for you to bring the vehicle to a full stop. These assumptions are figures for a well maintained car, with good brakes and tyres, an alert driver, and a dry road, in daylight.
4.) to minimise injury to pedestrians car manufacturers have designed a more effective breaking system called Anti-lock braking system (ABS)
These prevent skidding and allow the driver to have more control of his vehicle, the vehicle stops more quickly as there's more friction between the road and tyres. This minimises collision with pedestrians
Car manufacturers and Engineers have spent years studying what happens when a vehicle hits a pedestrian, and have come to several conclusions about how to minimize injury, one of these is the idea of a A flat, relatively soft front bumper this minimizes the force of an impact but at the same time this has environmental issues as it hurts fuel economy
Since Most pedestrian-vehicle crashes involve frontal impacts. Car manufacturers are also looking for a new innovation in vehicle design intended to protect pedestrians who are hit by the front of the vehicle, A pop up bonnet is designed to rise in an accident involving a pedestrian to soften the blow, absorb the head impact energy, and reduce the severity of the injury
Also the bonnet is designed to crumple Car designers use crumple zones to control deformation and maximize energy absorption during an accident, and increasing the chances of the pedestrian surviving the impact without serious injuries.
The front of the vehicle is designed without sharp, hard protruding parts that might cause injury in the case of impact with a pedestrian. Protruding hood ornaments, for example, were embedded in the grille or designed to collapse on impact, while exterior mirrors are now mounted on springs
5.)
a
When a vehicle is , it's speed and mass constitute kinetic energy, called momentum. During an accident all of this energy has to be disipated to zero in a very short time.
Crash barriers along the road work in a similar way, they absorb energy as they are deformed over a distance, and this is better than having this energy absorbed by the car. An example of a crash barrier is a series of water filled barrels. As they are smashed by the car the water inside shoots in all directions, and it takes energy to displace the water this way.
Some examples of road surface technology that improves safety are: (1) a slight crest to the road to cause rain water to run off towards the side of the road, which avoids puddles and cars hydroplaning; (2) grooves cut into the road surface to channel water away, used on cement highways because cement can better keep the grooves compared to macadam, and it is more important on highways where speeds are faster; (3) rumble strips at the edge of a highway causes a loud noise that wakes up drifting drivers; (4) the raised pavement markers between lanes serve a similar purpose and are many times also reflective (the domed shaped ones are sometimes called Botts Dots after Elbert Botts who invented them); (5) then there's the good old speed bumps used to slow cars in areas of pedestrian traffic.
