6.2 Following Distance and Stopping Distance

Barbados Regulation Examination Exam

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1 Chapter 1: The Regulation Examination and the Licensing Path

1.1 The Regulation Examination: Facts, Booking and Study Plan 1.2 Learner's Permit Conditions and Supervision 1.3 Driving Test, Licence Classes, Renewal and Demerit Points

2 Chapter 2: Traffic Signs

2.1 Sign Shapes, Colours and Legal Force 2.2 Warning Signs in the Ninth Schedule 2.3 Regulatory Signs: Prohibitions and Mandatory Orders 2.4 Information Signs, Temporary Signs and Construction Zones

3 Chapter 3: Light Signals, Driver Signals and Police Directions

3.1 Traffic Light Signals 3.2 Driver Signals, the Horn and Police Directions

4 Chapter 4: Road Markings and Pedestrian Crossings

4.1 Road Markings and Lane Use 4.2 Pedestrian Crossings

5 Chapter 5: Road Position, Overtaking, Junctions and Roundabouts

5.1 Keeping Left, Being Overtaken and Overtaking 5.2 Junctions, Turning and Emerging 5.3 Roundabouts

6 Chapter 6: Speed Limits and Stopping Distances

6.1 Barbados Speed Limits 6.2 Following Distance and Stopping Distance

7 Chapter 7: Stopping, Parking and Lights

7.1 Stopping, Waiting and Parking Rules 7.2 Lighting-Up Times and Use of Lights

8 Chapter 8: Vehicle Condition, Loads and Occupant Safety

8.1 Vehicle Condition, Equipment, Loads and Towing 8.2 Seat Belts and Child Safety Seats

9 Chapter 9: Alcohol, Drugs, Distraction and Fitness to Drive

9.1 Alcohol, Drugs and the Breath-Test Law 9.2 Phones, Distractions, Fatigue and Fitness to Drive

10 Chapter 10: Sharing the Road

10.1 Pedestrians, Children and Processions 10.2 Cyclists and Motorcyclists 10.3 Animals, Animal-Drawn Vehicles and Slow Traffic 10.4 Emergency Vehicles, Buses and Public Service Vehicles

11 Chapter 11: Accidents, Insurance and Traffic Offences

11.1 Duties After an Accident 11.2 Insurance, Documents and Traffic Offences

12 Chapter 12: Defensive Driving and Emergencies

12.1 Defensive Driving and Hazard Perception 12.2 Rain, Night, Breakdowns and Emergencies

6.2 Following Distance and Stopping Distance

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Overall stopping distance = thinking distance + braking distance.

Braking distance rises with the square of speed: doubling your speed roughly quadruples it.

Typical overall stopping distances in good conditions are about 12 m at 32 km/h, 23 m at 48 km/h, 36 m at 64 km/h and 53 m at 80 km/h.

Keep at least a two-second gap in good conditions, and at least double it on wet roads.

Fatigue, alcohol, drugs and phones lengthen thinking distance; rain, worn tyres, poor brakes and heavy loads lengthen braking distance.

Last updated: October 2026

The test papers return to one idea again and again: the faster you drive, the more distance and time you need to stop. (They ask it directly, as a true-or-false question. The answer is true.) This section turns that idea into numbers you can use.

Two parts of every stop Overall stopping distance = Thinking distance + Braking distance \text{Overall stopping distance} = \text{Thinking distance} + \text{Braking distance} Overall stopping distance = Thinking distance + Braking distance

Thinking distance is the distance travelled between seeing the hazard and pressing the brake. It depends on your speed and your reaction time .

Braking distance is the distance travelled after the brakes are applied. It depends on speed, the road surface, tyres, brakes, load and slope.

Thinking distance is easy to calculate

Convert km/h to metres per second by dividing by 3.6, then multiply by your reaction time: d think = v 3.6 × t d_{\text{think}} = \frac{v}{3.6} \times t d think = 3.6 v × t

At 60 km/h, v / 3.6 ≈ 16.7 v/3.6 \approx 16.7 v /3.6 ≈ 16.7 m/s. With a reaction time of 0.7 s, thinking distance is about 12 m. If you are tired or distracted and take 1.5 s, it becomes 25 m, before the brakes have even started to work.

Braking distance grows with the square of speed

Braking distance is roughly proportional to v 2 v^2 v 2 . Double the speed and the braking distance roughly quadruples . Triple it and the braking distance is about nine times as long. That is why a small increase in speed makes a large difference in a collision.

Typical stopping distances

Barbados regulation-test material uses the standard Commonwealth figures for an alert driver in a well-maintained car on a dry road. They were first worked out in miles per hour, so the km/h values below are conversions.

Speed Thinking Braking Overall About
32 km/h (20 mph) 6 m 6 m 12 m 3 car lengths
48 km/h (30 mph) 9 m 14 m 23 m 6 car lengths
64 km/h (40 mph) 12 m 24 m 36 m 9 car lengths
80 km/h (50 mph) 15 m 38 m 53 m 13 car lengths

Note how braking overtakes thinking as speed rises. At 80 km/h, the speed allowed on signed highways, an alert driver needs over 50 metres to stop on a dry road.

The two-second gap

A time gap scales with speed automatically:

Pick a fixed point ahead, such as a lamp post or a shadow.

When the vehicle in front passes it, say "only a fool breaks the two-second rule."

If you reach the point before you finish, you are too close. Drop back.

Conditions Minimum gap
Good, dry roads 2 seconds
Wet roads At least double: 4 seconds or more
Loose surface, road works, heavy rain, poor visibility Even more

Older Barbados test answers express the gap in vehicle lengths for each step of speed, with more on wet or dusty roads. The two-second method gives the same protection and is easier to use.

What makes stopping distances longer

Thinking distance longer Braking distance longer
Fatigue Wet roads, especially the first rain after a dry spell
Alcohol and drugs, including some medicines Loose chippings, mud, oil, sand
Phones, earphones, loud music, passengers Worn or under-inflated tyres
Looking at scenery or at a crash Worn brakes or overheated brakes on long descents
Not scanning ahead Heavy loads and towing
Being followed too closely

If someone is tailgating you, do not brake sharply to "teach them a lesson." Increase your own gap to the vehicle ahead, so that you can brake gently if something happens. Let the tailgater pass when it is safe.

Worked example

You are driving at 64 km/h on a dry road, two seconds behind a van. The van brakes hard for a dog.

In two seconds at 64 km/h you cover 64 3.6 × 2 ≈ 36 \frac{64}{3.6} \times 2 \approx 36 3.6 64 × 2 ≈ 36 m, so your gap is about 36 m.

Your thinking distance is about 12 m, so when you start braking the gap has shrunk to about 24 m. The van has started braking at the same moment you saw it, so it is also slowing.

Because the van and you brake at similar rates, the two-second gap absorbs your reaction time with room to spare.

Now repeat the example on a wet road with only a one-second gap (about 18 m). Your 12 m thinking distance leaves only about 6 m, and wet braking takes longer than dry braking, so a collision is likely. That is why the gap must grow when conditions get worse.

On long descents

Brakes that are used continuously on a long, steep descent overheat and lose power ("brake fade"). Select a lower gear before the descent so that the engine helps to hold the speed, and use the brakes in firm applications rather than constantly.