Hazard perception handbook - RTA

The time it takes to stop a vehicle can be broken into two parts; the time it takes to
process the situation and the time required to instigate the correct response.
Generally it will take about one and a half seconds to process the situation (reaction
time) and a further one and a half seconds to take action (response time), a total of
three seconds.
The following graph shows the distance that you travel in three seconds at different
speeds. The faster you go, the more distance you need to stop. you need even more
distance when the road is wet.
Distance travelled in 3 seconds (metres)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
60 70 80 90 100 110
Speed of car (km/h)
distance travelled in 3 seconds at speeds of 60 km/h through to 110 km/h.
SPEEdING ANd CRASH SEvERITy
Speeding also adds to the severity of any crash that you might be involved in.
The risk of death and injury increases many times over. for example, if you hit a
pedestrian at 60 km/h you will probably kill them. If you hit them at 50 km/h they
are more likely to be injured, but not killed. This is one reason why the 50 km/h
local speed limit has been introduced into many parts of NSW.
Each year around 2000 pedestrians are killed or injured on NSW roads. Regrettably,
provisional drivers are over-represented among drivers who hit pedestrians.
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