Physics Stopping Distance

971 Words4 Pages
Stopping distances and velocity 3/6/12 Introduction There are several factors that come into play when determining what caused an auto accident. When a person does not have enough stopping distance a collision will occur. There are hundreds of reasons why there could be insufficient stopping distance, including slick roads, poor tire tread, the mass of your vehicle, condition of the brakes, speed, or the sobriety of the driver. After the accident has occurred, the police will investigate to find the cause. The investigation consists of many aspects, starting with an inspection of the accident site. Measurements are taken from evidence left at the scene, such as skid marks, point of impact, gouge marks, and final resting position. These measurements are then used to create a diagram to reconstruct the accident. The police will also do individual vehicle inspections to check things like amount of damage along with inspecting brakes, tires, steering, and lights to see if they were a causing factor (Glennon, 2001). Once the investigation is complete they can begin to reconstruct the accident. During the reconstruction phase, physics is used to determine several aspects such as speed of the vehicles, their approximate positions at different times during the accident, and stopping distance (Glennon, 2001). If the cause of the accident is readily apparent then a reconstruction of the scene may not be necessary, such as with many of the multi-car pile-ups. Many of these accidents occur because of environmental factors such as fog, smoke, ice, or dust storms. Even though the main cause of the accident is environmental and out of the driver’s control, there are certainly things that could be done to minimize the effects. They could pull off the road if their visibility is dramatically decreased, turn off their lights (in dust or fog), or simply slow down (Cruz, 2011).

More about Physics Stopping Distance

Open Document