The UK Highway Code specifies separation safety margins and total stopping distances to ac… — UK Driving Theory Test

The UK Highway Code specifies separation safety margins and total stopping distances to account for vehicle speed and road surface conditions. Match each driving scenario or road condition on the left with its correct minimum safety margin or overall stopping distance on the right.

Overall stopping distance when travelling at $20\text{ mph}$ on a dry road $12\text{ metres}$ ( $40\text{ feet}$ )
Overall stopping distance when travelling at $40\text{ mph}$ on a dry road $36\text{ metres}$ ( $118\text{ feet}$ )
Minimum safe following time gap when driving on a wet road $4\text{ seconds}$ (double the normal dry gap)
Minimum safe following time gap when driving on an icy road $20\text{ seconds}$ (ten times the normal dry gap)

Answer

Overall stopping distance at

20\text{ mph}

matches

12\text{ metres}

(

40\text{ feet}

); Overall stopping distance at

40\text{ mph}

matches

36\text{ metres}

(

118\text{ feet}

); Wet road following gap matches

4\text{ seconds}

; Icy road following gap matches

20\text{ seconds}

The UK Highway Code sets standardized distances and rules: at

20\text{ mph}

, total stopping distance is

12\text{ metres}

(

40\text{ feet}

); at

40\text{ mph}

, it is

36\text{ metres}

(

118\text{ feet}

). For following gaps, the standard dry two-second rule doubles to

4\text{ seconds}

in wet weather and increases up to ten times to

20\text{ seconds}

in icy or snowy conditions.

Step-by-Step Solution

Determine the dry stopping distance for

20\text{ mph}

and

40\text{ mph}

20\text{ mph} = 12\text{ m}

(

40\text{ ft}

) and

40\text{ mph} = 36\text{ m}

(

118\text{ ft}

)

According to the UK Highway Code, total stopping distance equals thinking distance plus braking distance under good dry conditions.

Calculate the required following time gap for wet and icy weather conditions

Wet =

4\text{ seconds}

(

2\times 2\text{ s}

); Icy =

20\text{ seconds}

(

10\times 2\text{ s}

)

The baseline two-second rule must be multiplied by 2 for wet weather and up to 10 for icy conditions due to severe loss of friction.

Key Concept

Highway Code stopping distances and weather-adjusted following separation time gaps

Estimated Time:1m 0s

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