Which of these factors has a decisive influence on the determination of the distance from the vehicle in front of us?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
C. Speed of the vehicle.
Explanation
In the photo, you are driving behind a dark car that is just braking - its brake lights are on; the roadway is wet, and on the right there are sign A-30 with a plate warning of accidents on a 1 km section and a board about a speed camera. The speed of the vehicle has a decisive influence on determining the distance from the vehicle in front of us - answer C, not its length (A) or width (B).
The Road Traffic Act requires you to keep the distance needed to avoid a collision if the vehicle in front brakes or stops. The distance you travel before you react and before the car stops increases with speed: reaction time is about one second, which means 14 m at 50 km/h and 25 m at 90 km/h, and the braking distance increases with the square of the speed and is much longer on wet asphalt than on dry asphalt. The situation in the photo shows why you need this margin: the car in front is braking before a speed camera, and the road surface is slippery. You keep a gap of at least two seconds, four on a wet road, and you watch not only the brake lights of the car in front, but also what is happening two cars further ahead.
Legal basis: Art. 19 para. 2 point 3 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)