Question

Total stopping distance includes

Answer 1

Total stopping distance includes the distance the car travels during the driver's reaction time and the distance the car travels while the driver is braking.

The instant a driver realizes he or she needs to stop the vehicle, their foot might not be on the brake. Let's say for this example, the car is moving at constant velocity. A small amount of time passes between the realization that the car needs to be stopped and the driver's foot moving to the brake pedal. This is called the reaction distance. When the brakes are applied, the car begins to slow down. The distance required to come to a stop is the braking distance. The sum of the reaction distance and the braking distance is the total stopping distance.