7.2 Braking, Following Distance, and Skids
Key Takeaways
- At 35, 55, and 70 mph a vehicle travels 51.3, 80.7, and 102.7 feet in one second — 2.6, 4, and 5.1 traffic lanes — and covers a football field in 5.8, 3.7, and 2.9 seconds.
- Stay at least two to three seconds behind the vehicle ahead. Watch it pass a fixed object and count until you pass the same object.
- Stopping ability depends on vehicle weight, type and condition of brakes, type and condition of tires, physical condition of the pavement, slickness of the pavement, and grade of the road.
- Skid recovery is the same for front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive vehicles: ease off the gas; do not fast-turn away from the skid or steer too far. With conventional brakes, steer in a controlled way in the direction the rear is sliding, then straighten and proceed slowly when traction returns. With ABS, keep firm continuous pressure on the brake and steer normally; do not pump — noise or vibration means ABS is working.
- Rollovers account for nearly one-third of passenger-vehicle fatalities. Avoid panicked steering; if you leave the roadway, ease off the gas and do not turn back immediately. Maintain tires, load properly, use caution on rural roads, and do not exceed advisory speeds on curves and ramps. A 15-passenger van's rollover risk rises as occupancy increases.
7.2 Braking, Following Distance, and Skids
Quick Answer: Stay at least two to three seconds behind the vehicle ahead. Watch it pass a fixed object and count until you pass the same object. At 35 / 55 / 70 mph you travel 51.3 / 80.7 / 102.7 feet in one second, covering 2.6 / 4 / 5.1 traffic lanes, and a football field in 5.8 / 3.7 / 2.9 seconds. Stopping is affected by vehicle weight, brake type and condition, tire type and condition, pavement physical condition, slickness, and road grade. A skid is corrected the same way on front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive vehicles: ease off the gas; do not fast-turn away from the skid or steer too far. Conventional brakes: steer in a controlled manner in the direction the rear is sliding; when traction returns, straighten and proceed slowly. ABS: keep your foot on the brake with firm, continuous pressure and steer normally; do not pump; noise or vibration means ABS is working. Rollovers account for nearly one-third of passenger-vehicle fatalities. If you leave the roadway, do not turn back immediately — ease off the gas and gradually return when it is safe. Do not exceed advisory speeds on curves and ramps. A 15-passenger van's rollover risk increases as occupancy increases.
Chapter 7's braking pages sit next to the speed tables because speed is what turns a short gap into a crash. The knowledge exam will quote the two-to-three-second rule, the 35/55/70 chart, ABS versus conventional skid recovery, and the leave-the-roadway rollover steps.
How far you travel before you even start to brake
The Driver's Manual chart shows how fast a vehicle covers ground at three common speeds:
| Measure | 35 mph | 55 mph | 70 mph |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feet traveled in one second | 51.3 | 80.7 | 102.7 |
| Traffic lanes in one second | 2.6 | 4 | 5.1 |
| Seconds to travel a football field | 5.8 | 3.7 | 2.9 |
At 70 mph you cover more than 100 feet every second and a football field in under three seconds. At 55 mph, four traffic lanes go by in one second. Those numbers are why “I was only a second behind” is not a following plan. One second at 55 mph is already 80.7 feet and four lanes of travel — and that is before you add perception time, brake lag, and pavement slickness.
The same football-field comparison appears in the distracted-driving pages (five seconds of eyes-off-the-road at 55 mph). Here the point is speed itself: even with your eyes on the road, the vehicle eats distance faster than most new drivers feel.
The two-to-three-second rule
A good rule is to stay at least two to three seconds behind the vehicle ahead. Indiana does not teach “one car length per 10 mph” as the Chapter 7 rule. Time is the unit.
How to measure it: when following a vehicle, watch for it to pass a fixed object — a sign post, overpass shadow, pavement seam, or tree — and estimate how much time elapses before you pass the same object. If you reach the object before you finish a steady two- or three-count, you are too close. Drop back and measure again.
Use the high end of the range when the six dangerous-condition items apply: bad weather and poor visibility, slick or icy roads, worn tires, unsafe vehicle conditions, impaired physical condition, and hazardous road-surface conditions. Posted speed plus a one-second gap on ice is how rear-end crashes start.
Two to three seconds is a minimum following gap, not a license to sit in someone's blind spot. If you cannot see the other driver's mirrors, you are not a following-distance success story even if your count is technically three.
What actually changes stopping distance
Many factors affect a vehicle's ability to stop:
- Weight of the vehicle
- Type and condition of brakes
- Type and condition of tires
- Physical condition of the pavement
- Slickness of the pavement
- Grade of the road
A loaded pickup on a downhill, wet, rutted county road does not stop like an empty sedan on dry, level interstate pavement. Worn tires and neglected brakes steal the last feet you thought you had. Grade matters in both directions: a downhill lengthens the stop; an uphill can hide how little traction you will have if you need to stop after the crest (the rural-road section covers never passing on a crest).
You cannot change pavement slickness from the driver's seat, but you can change speed and following time. Those two controls are how you compensate for weight, tires, brakes, and grade.
Skids: same procedure for FWD and RWD
Sudden turns, lane changes, or hard braking can cause a skid. The procedure for correcting a skid is the same for both front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive vehicles. Do not memorize a separate “turn into it only if you have RWD” story; Indiana does not split the method that way.
If the vehicle begins to lose traction or the rear wheels begin sliding sideways:
- Ease off the gas pedal.
- Do not make a fast turn away from the direction of the skid.
- Do not steer too far, which could cause a spin.
Then the brake type decides the next move.
Conventional brakes: turn the steering wheel in a controlled manner in the direction the rear of the car is sliding. When you regain traction, straighten the vehicle and proceed slowly. If the rear is sliding right, a controlled steer right is the recovery, not a yank the other way.
Anti-lock brake system (ABS): keep your foot on the brake pedal, maintaining firm and continuous pressure, while steering normally. Do not pump the brakes. A mechanical sound or noise and vibration or increased resistance in the brake pedal indicates your ABS is working. Pumping is the old conventional-brake habit, and it defeats ABS. The noise is not a failure — it is the system doing the job.
Exam trap pairing: FWD versus RWD is not the split; conventional versus ABS is the split. Ease off the gas in both. Steer into the rear slide with conventional brakes. Hold the pedal down with ABS.
Rollovers
Rollover crashes account for nearly one-third of all passenger-vehicle fatalities. Indiana lists six ways to cut the risk:
- Avoid panicked steering. Many rollovers happen when drivers overcorrect as a panicked reaction. At highway speeds, overcorrecting or excessive steering can force the vehicle to slide sideways and roll over.
- Know proper maneuvering. If your vehicle leaves the roadway, do not turn back onto the pavement right away. Ease up on the gas pedal. When it is safe, gradually turn back onto the road.
- Maintain your tires. Improperly inflated and worn tires inhibit vehicle control, “the most important factor in reducing the chance of rollover.”
- Load vehicles properly. Maximum safe load and proper distribution are in the owner's manual.
- Use caution on rural roads. Rollovers are more likely on undivided two-way roads or divided roads with no barriers. Off a rural road, a vehicle can roll if it strikes a ditch or embankment or is tripped by soft soil.
- Slow down on curves and ramps. Advisory speeds at those locations should not be exceeded.
The rollover risk of a 15-passenger van increases dramatically as the number of occupants increases. Other listed risks: inexperienced drivers, improperly sized and/or inflated tires, and incorrectly loaded cargo or passengers that change the center of gravity. Filling every seat is not a “safer because heavier” story for that van — occupancy raises the rollover risk.
The leave-the-roadway sequence is the one new drivers get backward. A drop-off feels like an emergency that demands an instant yank back to pavement. That yank is how the vehicle trips and rolls. Ease off the gas, wait for a safe chance, return gradually.
Indiana scenarios
US 31 at 55 mph. The car ahead passes a mile-marker post. You should not reach that post until you have counted at least two to three seconds. At 55 mph you are covering 80.7 feet and four traffic lanes every second.
Wet exit ramp, advisory 25. The ramp's advisory speed is not a suggestion to beat. Do not exceed advisory speeds on curves and ramps. Panicked steering on a slick ramp is a rollover setup.
ABS vibration on I-70. You brake hard and the pedal buzzes. That noise and vibration mean ABS is working. Keep firm, continuous pressure and steer. Do not pump.
Rear slides right on gravel. Ease off the gas. With conventional brakes, steer right in a controlled way — the direction the rear is sliding — then straighten and go slowly. Do not fast-turn left away from the skid.
Right wheels drop off rural SR 37. Do not jerk back onto the pavement. Ease off the gas. When it is safe, gradually return. Soft soil and a ditch are how rural run-off-road crashes become rollovers.
Church 15-passenger van, every seat full. Occupancy up means rollover risk up. Check tire size and inflation, and load cargo so the center of gravity stays where the owner's manual says.
Exam traps
- Using car lengths instead of two to three seconds.
- Mixing the chart: 70 mph is 102.7 feet per second and 2.9 seconds per football field, not the 35 mph numbers.
- Thinking FWD and RWD use different skid methods — Indiana says the procedure is the same.
- Pumping ABS; the buzz means it is working.
- Fast-turning away from a skid or steering too far into a spin.
- Yanking back onto the pavement the instant a tire leaves the road.
- Exceeding advisory speeds on curves and ramps.
- Treating a full 15-passenger van as more stable; risk increases with occupancy.
Count two to three seconds, know the 35/55/70 chart, ease off the gas in a skid, hold ABS, and never snap-steer back onto the pavement.
What following-distance rule does the Indiana Driver's Manual give?
If your vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS) and begins to skid, what does the Driver's Manual tell you to do?
If your vehicle leaves the roadway, how do you reduce rollover risk according to the Driver's Manual?