Teen Resource Guide - 3

SPEED FAC TS
Hey, think speeding is no big deal? Everyone has to do it once in a while, right? Well, check out these facts and then decide if speeding is a good idea: • For every one mile per hour a car is moving, it travels 1.46 feet per second! • Traveling at a speed of just 40 miles per hour, your car will move nearly 118 feet in two seconds. • Average response time for an adult is 1.5 seconds. • This brings total distance traveled to 206.5 feet before you could step on the brake or take evasive action in an emergency!

Let’s Break That Down For You
206.5 feet is the equivalent of: 70 yards on a football field. Three 18 wheelers. 13 Sedan’s.

This example is for a car traveling just 40 mph. If you are traveling 55 mph the distance traveled before you can brake or take evasive action is even more! You also need to consider the time it will take the car to come to a complete
3 | Teen Driver Resource Guide • www.dmv.ny.gov

stop once you have stepped on the brake – the faster you are traveling, the longer it will take the vehicle to stop (think Newton’s Laws of motion). Still think speeding is no big deal? In addition to increasing the time it takes to stop, speeding will also increase impact and risk of injury or death if you are unable to avoid a crash (Newton again). A moving vehicle has a great amount of force, and the faster the vehicle is moving the greater the force. For example, if a car is traveling 40 mph and hits a tree, the amount of force involved would be equal to the car hitting the ground after falling from a 50 foot cliff! An unrestrained person inside of the vehicle would hit the windshield with the same amount of force as hitting the ground after falling from the top of a five story building. The force involved in this example increases as speed increases – the laws of nature can’t be broken.

Teen Resource Guide

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