What is the main factor determining the emergency braking distance of a tractor?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
B. The type of surface on which the vehicle is travelling.
Explanation
In the photo, there is the back of a tractor with a hitch above wet asphalt covered with fallen leaves. The length of a tractor's emergency braking distance is mainly determined by the type of surface it is moving on - answer B.
The braking distance is the distance travelled from the moment the brakes start to work until the vehicle stops. It depends above all on the speed and on the grip of the tyres on the surface: it is shortest on dry asphalt, longer on wet asphalt, and on wet leaves, mud brought from the fields or ice it can become several times longer. The driver's reaction time (answer A) makes the stopping distance longer, because during this time the tractor is still moving without braking, but it does not change the braking distance itself. The type of brake fluid (answer C) does not matter here, as long as the system works properly and the fluid is the correct one. In autumn tractors come out of the fields with mud on their wheels, so increase your following distance and brake earlier.
Legal basis: Art. 19 para. 1 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)