Under standard CDL safety guidelines, a commercial driver operating a 60\text{-foot} combi… — Commercial Driver's License (CDL) General Knowledge Exam

Under standard CDL safety guidelines, a commercial driver operating a $60\text{-foot}$ combination vehicle at a cruising speed of $50\text{ mph}$ on a clear, dry highway must maintain a minimum following distance of $6\text{ seconds}$ .

Answer: Answer

Answer

False

The statement is false because the CDL standard following distance formula requires

1\text{ second}

for each

10\text{ feet}

of vehicle length, plus an additional

1\text{ second}

for speeds at or above

40\text{ mph}

. For a

60\text{-foot}

vehicle traveling at

50\text{ mph}

, the required following distance is

6 + 1 = 7\text{ seconds}

Step-by-Step Solution

Calculate the baseline following distance based on vehicle length

6\text{ seconds}

(

60\text{ ft} / 10\text{ ft/s} = 6\text{ s}

)

Standard CDL safety rules allocate

1\text{ second}

for every

10\text{ feet}

of vehicle length.

Determine the speed adjustment

Add

+1\text{ second}

because speed (

50\text{ mph}

) is at or above

40\text{ mph}

Vehicles traveling at speeds of

40\text{ mph}

or higher require an extra second of safety cushion to account for increased stopping distance.

Compute total required following distance and evaluate the statement

6\text{ s} + 1\text{ s} = 7\text{ seconds}

, which makes the stated

6\text{ seconds}

insufficient

Since the true required minimum is

7\text{ seconds}

, the statement claiming

6\text{ seconds}

is sufficient is false.

Key Concept

Calculating following distance using the 1 second per 10 feet rule plus 1 additional second for speeds of 40 mph or greater

Estimated Time:45s

Question

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Step-by-Step Solution

Key Concept

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