A major accident occurred at midnight.

Mr Mpofu who had parked his car by the roadside to repair his
left punctuside to repair his left punctured tyre, was hit and killed on the sport by a car driven by Mr
Hove. Mr Mpofu called the police and ambulance and minutes later Mr Mpofu was declared dead.
Questioned by the police Mr Hove said he was only driving at 40km/hr when suddenly Mr Mpofu
appeared in front of his car. He claimed he had only 1 second to apply emergency brakes and could not
avoid the collision. Breath analyser showed he was not driving under the influence of alcohol. No
witness could be found at the accident site, but the police found fresh break marks some 80m from Mr
Mpofu’s car.

You are required to assist police to ascertain whether Mr Hove was speeding before the accident.

(a) Complete the table below using the following information:

 Reaction distance = Speed x Average human reaction time

( Assuming average human reaction time is 4 sec )

 Braking distance = Estimated time for the car to stop once brakes are applied.
 Total stopping distance = Reaction distance + Braking distance

Speed kmh-1 Reaction distance (m) Braking distance Total stopping

(m) distance (m)
30 5,3

50 14,8

60 21,4

80 38,0

100 59,4

120 85,5

(b) Plot a graph of speed against total stopping distance

(c) From your investigation suggest whether Mr Hove was speeding
(d) What is the estimated stopping distance in 1 second for a car travelling at a speed of 40kmh -1
(e) What is the estimated speed of a car if the stopping distance is 80m?
(f) What assumptions were made in these calculations