Wednesday, June 11, 2014

300 Feet

Did you know...
300 feet = 100 yards = 91.44 meters = 0.09144 kilometers = 0.0568182 miles?
If you're traveling at a speed of 60-70 mph it would take you a minimum of 3 seconds to stop?


Every time my GPS shows 300 feet to my exit or turn I begin counting, trying to figure out if I'm traveling 60-70 mph how long it would take me to stop if something came to an abrupt stop just 300 feet ahead of me. If my calculations are correct, based on statistics below, I would have 3-4 seconds to stop.

Why this obsession with 300 feet?

Because the maximum distance Austin had to stop between the time the truck he hit came into his sight range and the point of impact was 300 feet. Therefore he had 3 seconds or less to avoid collision, assuming he saw the truck the second he crested the hill, that he wasn't looking down for a second or off to the side. 

So, just like I will never look at a picture of Austin in the shirt from my last posting the same, I will never look at 300 feet on my GPS the same way again either.

And now, you will never look signs for 300 feet the same way again either...

What are your triggers for Austin memories?

And in case you're wondering how do I know this information...I looked it up:

CAR STOPPING DISTANCE (Highway Code)
SpeedDistance to StopFeet per SecondCar lengths
20 mph12m 40ft29.4 ft/sec4
30 mph23m 75ft44.1 ft/sec6
40 mph36m 120ft58.8 ft/sec10
50 mph53m 175ft73.5 ft/sec14
60 mph73m 240ft88.2 ft/sec20
70 mph96m 315ft102.9 ft/sec26
Table from http://www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk/stopping.htm

The average reaction time from seeing an emergency situation to actually placing your foot on the brake pedal is 0.7 seconds At 30mph, 44 feet per second, you will have travelled 30 feet before you even take action, and a further 45 feet before the brakes bring the car to a halt.  (According to http://www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk/stopping.htm)

No comments:

Post a Comment