How Does Distraction Affect Car Collisions?

[samsters37]

1. You are arguing over a cell phone while trailing an unmarked police car by 34 m. Both your car and the police car are traveling at 105 km/h. Your argument diverts your attention from the police car for 2.0 s (long enough for you to look at the phone and yell, "I won't do that!"). At the beginning of that 2.0 s, the police officer begins emergency braking at 5 m/s2.
(a) What is the separation between the two cars when your attention finally returns? (Hint: This problem might be a bit easier to solve using the idea of relative velocity.)
m
(b) Suppose it takes you another 0.4 s to realize your danger and begin braking. If you too brake at 5 m/s2, what is your speed when you hit the police car?
km/h
How much time passes between your initial braking and the collision?
s
How much distance do you cover during this time (i.e., while braking)?

 

[NateD]

mA. (a) The separation between the two cars when your attention finally returns is 372 m.(b) When you hit the police car, your speed is 72 km/h. The time that passes between your initial braking and the collision is 0.8 s, and the distance you cover during this time is 40 m.