Freeway physics 101
There are a few basic principles of physics that drivers around
San Benito County
– and pretty much everywhere else – seem to have forgotten. One
is that an object in motion wants to stay in motion. Which leads to
the other law – a heavy object traveling at a high speed needs a
heck of a lot more than a few feet to come to a complete stop.
Freeway physics 101
There are a few basic principles of physics that drivers around San Benito County – and pretty much everywhere else – seem to have forgotten. One is that an object in motion wants to stay in motion. Which leads to the other law – a heavy object traveling at a high speed needs a heck of a lot more than a few feet to come to a complete stop.
Over the Christmas holiday weekend some unlucky travelers driving south on Hwy 101 through San Martin put these physics concepts to the test. It was a holiday weekend and traffic was heavy on the southbound freeway. Drivers, in their impatience, got closer and closer to the cars in front of them, ignoring not just California road laws but also the inescapable laws of physics.
By midday, eight cars had collided. Multiple police cars, ambulances and even a CALSTAR helicopter arrived on the scene. Rescue workers closed down all lanes of the freeway to southbound traffic. Several travelers spent the holidays in the hospital rather than enjoy gifts and feasts with their families.
Tailgating isn’t just annoying – it’s dangerous. In San Benito County, where all roads into and out of town are two lane highways, the laws of physics are even more important. Along the much-traveled Hwy 25 there is hardly a shoulder to swerve into should a driver be too close to the car in front and need to stop. Fender benders happen along the stretch on a weekly, if not daily basis, because drivers get to close to the car in front of them.
A safe traveling distance between cars considers two things – how long it takes our brains to react to a situation and how long it takes to stop an object in motion.
There is a basic formula that scientists use to estimate how far we should be from the car in front of us:
reaction time distance is 1.1 x speed (mph)
+
braking time distance is .06 x speed (mph)2
Add those numbers together and that’s how far away you need to be from the car in front of you.
For those, like us, who aren’t so great at math – next time you drive along the Bolsa at 55 miles an hour, to come to a safe complete stop without rear-ending the car in front requires more than 230 feet between your fender and the bumper in front. And the faster you go, the greater the distance needed to stop.
So drivers, next time you’re so close to the driver in front, you can no longer see their brake lights, slow down, relax and remember the common sense law that its always better to arrive late and in one piece.
