When searching the road 20 to 30 seconds ahead is equal to looking?
Search the roadway and the off-road areas 20 to 30 sec- onds ahead for information that can help you plan a path of travel. (Twenty to 30 sec- onds equals about 1% to 2 blocks at 25 to 30 mph in the city and about to ½ mile at 50 to 65 mph on the highway.)
Your line of sight is the distance you can see ahead in the direction you are looking. Your intended path of travel is the space your vehicle will occupy.
To give yourself time to react, avoid last minute moves and hazards, always keep your eyes moving and scan the road at least 10 seconds ahead of your vehicle.
To have adequate time and space to avoid obstacles in your path you need to search the traffic environment as far ahead of your vehicle as possible. Make every effort to establish a clear line of sight so you can search the traffic environment about 30 seconds ahead.
If you are going 60 mph on an interstate highway, looking ahead a quarter mile is looking 15 seconds into the future. In some situations, you can see the road ahead for a mile or more; in other situations, the sight distance is only a few yards.
A visual lead is an area 20 to 30 seconds of travel time to the front of the vehicle.
At the very least, look ahead about 15 seconds. On a highway, in 15 seconds you will cover about a quarter of a mile. If you look ahead a Page 8 quarter-mile, you will have 15 seconds to see, plan and react to problems. On city streets at low speeds (25-35 mph), in 15 seconds you will drive one block.
By looking well ahead you can operate a vehicle more safely, save on fuel, help keep traffic moving at a steady pace and allow yourself time to see better around your vehicle and along the side of the road. Looking well down the travel path will also help you to steer with less weaving.
Let's use a common speed of 60 mph. That's a mile per minute or 88 feet per second. 15–20 seconds cover 1320 feet (1/4 mile) to 1760 feet (1/3 mile).
Every driver needs to be able to see what is in front of him, to the sides, and in the rear. Being able to see everything clearly helps drivers avoid any last-minute maneuvers. This is why it is recommended that drivers look ahead 12 seconds while driving in the city, and 12 to 15 seconds on the highway.
How many seconds should a driver search at least for?
Searches from the vehicle to at least 15 seconds ahead when driving in residential/city traffic and 20 to 30 seconds ahead during freeway/expressway driving. Checks blind spots prior to changing lanes or making a lateral maneuver. Understands that a green light means one must scan the intersection before proceeding.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests drivers confine their glances away from the road to no more than two seconds in length, but this study seems to suggest that even this amount of time may be dangerous.

Your line of sight is the distance you can see ahead in the direction you are looking. The target area is the section of the roadway where the target is located in the center of your intended path, and the area to the right and left.
Speed | Perception/Reaction Distance | Overal Stopping Distance |
---|---|---|
40 mph | 59 feet | 139 feet |
50 mph | 73 feet | 198 feet |
60 mph | 88 feet | 268 feet |
70 mph | 103 feet | 348 feet |
Looking Ahead
To avoid last-minute moves, you must look far enough ahead to see and react to things early. You should be able to identify problem situations 12 to 15 seconds ahead — about one block in the city, or a quarter of a mile at highway speeds.
For instance, if you're going 60 mph, you travel 60 miles in one hour. There are 60 minutes in one hour, so just divide the miles by that amount, and voila! It takes only one minute to travel 1 mile. The roads, however, have different speed limits.
A general rule that helps many drivers maintain safe following distances is the “three-second rule.” It requires leaving three seconds of space between your vehicle and the vehicle driving in front of you.
30 mph - 44 feet per second. 40 mph - 58 feet per second. 45 mph - 66 feet per second. 65 mph - 95 feet per second.
How to check the two-second rule. The driver of the following car must be at least 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front: The driver is alert. The car is in good condition, good tyres, good brakes.
Check mirrors every 8-10 seconds to be aware of vehicles entering your blind spots. Additionally, scan ahead on the road about 15 seconds (equating to a quarter mile on interstates, or one to two blocks in cities) for traffic issues, work zones, and other dangers.
How many seconds should you check your mirrors?
Keep windows free of obstructions–never put anything in your windows that will block your view. When driving in traffic, glance in mirrors every 5 to 8 seconds. Check your mirrors any time prior to braking or slowing down. Check the mirror and blind spots prior to all turns and lane changes.
Question | Answer |
---|---|
WHAT ARE THE TWO MAIN THING TO LOOK FOR AHEAD? | TRAFFIC, PEDESTRAINS. |
WHATS THE MOST IMPORTANT WAYS OF SEEING THE SIDES AND REAR OF YOUR VEHICLE? | THE USE OF MIRRORS WHEN THEY ARE PROPERLY ADJESTED. |
2. LOOK AT LEAST 12 - 15 SECONDS AHEAD OF YOUR VEHICLE. * At 30MPH, 12 – 15 seconds ahead represents 1 ½ football fields! * At 60MPH, it is 3 football fields!
Maintain eye lead time: Look ahead a minimum of 15 seconds. At 25 mph, that may be a city block; at 60 mph, it's a quarter of a mile. Scanning the road this far ahead gives you more information with which to make decisions.
Driving along a freeway
As in city driving, your eyes should be constantly moving, scanning the road ahead, to each side and behind. Look ahead to where you are going to be in the next 15 to 20 seconds, or as far ahead as you can see, when you travel at faster speeds.
If it takes you 3-5 seconds to pass an object after the car ahead of you has passed it, you're at a safe following distance. You'll need more space the faster you're driving, so keep that in mind.
To reference down in an urban area, move your eyes down from the look up position so that you view the road 12 seconds ahead at city speeds. Even if you cannot see clearly for that distance, you should look around or through the windows of the vehicles ahead.
The Three-Second Rule
Increasing the distance between you and the car ahead can help give you the time you need to recognize a hazard and respond safely. The National Safety Council recommends a minimum three-second following distance.
City Streets: When driving in a congested area, looking ahead 12 to 15 seconds is about one block at low speeds. Highway Driving: In less congested areas, 12 to 14 seconds is about 1/4 mile ahead (at approximately 55mph). Of course, it won't always be possible to look that far ahead.
Looking away from the path of travel for 2 or more seconds doubles the likelihood of a crash, according to AAA. Headset cell phone use is not substantially safer than hand-held use.
What is the 2 second take off rule?
The two-second rule is a rule of thumb by which a driver may maintain a safe following distance at any speed. The rule is that a driver should ideally stay at least two seconds behind any vehicle that is directly in front of the driver's vehicle.
If you're not looking that far ahead, you may have to stop too quickly or make quick lane changes. Looking 12 to 15 seconds ahead doesn't mean not paying attention to things that are closer. Good drivers shift their attention back and forth, near and far. Figure 2.6 illustrates how far to look ahead.
The 3-second rule advises you to keep a distance of three car lengths between you and the car in front.
Remember: The space between your vehicle and a large vehicle behind you on a highway should be four seconds at speeds of 46-70 mph, plus one second for every 10 feet of vehicle length.
Most passenger vehicles are about 3,000 – 4,000 pounds. A passenger vehicle weighing 4,000 pounds, traveling under ideal conditions at a speed of 65 miles per hour would take 316 feet to stop (nearly the length of a football field).
If you are driving below 40 mph, you should leave at least one second for every 10 feet of vehicle length. For a typical tractor-trailer, this results in 4 seconds between you and the leading vehicle. For speeds over 40 mph, you should leave one additional second.
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English feet, or 1,760 yards.
What is the shortest stopping distance at 60 mph? The shortest stopping distance at 60 mph is approximately 73 meters or 240 feet. This includes the thinking distance and braking distance required to bring the vehicle to a complete stop.
2 Answers By Expert Tutors
Let's find feet per minute. Now, to convert units without converting the value, we multiply by 1 (which is called the multiplicative identity for that reason). Now, to remember when driving, 70 mph is 102 2/3 ft/sec.
Maintain eye lead time: Look ahead a minimum of 15 seconds. At 25 mph, that may be a city block; at 60 mph, it's a quarter of a mile. Scanning the road this far ahead gives you more information with which to make decisions.
What is the distance you look ahead of your vehicle?
Most good drivers look at least 12 to 15 seconds ahead. That means looking ahead the distance you will travel in 12 to 15 seconds. At lower speeds, that's about one block. At highway speeds it's about a quarter of a mile.
Per this paper a look ahead policy is a policy that will make decisions based on some 'horizon'. Here horizon means some time steps into the future, and so a finite horizon is simply a finite amount of time steps into the future.
targeting. looking far ahead in the middle of your intended path of travel.
phrasal verb
The past year has been successful and, looking ahead, we expect to do even better in the coming months. Looking ahead to next year, we expect to be even more successful.
In backtracking algorithms, look ahead is the generic term for a subprocedure that attempts to foresee the effects of choosing a branching variable to evaluate one of its values. The two main aims of look-ahead are to choose a variable to evaluate next and to choose the order of values to assign to it.
Look ahead is a technique in speedcubing where you look for the next pieces while solving some. For example: looking for the pieces of the first F2L pair while making the cross. Look Ahead alone is a big aspect, and to fix it you might have to fix some other areas of your solve.
You want to make sure you're looking as far up the center of your intended path as you can, which generally means you're looking at the horizon. What's right in front of your vehicle (that you can see) is available to your peripheral vision. And your peripheral vision can alert you to a problem.
The point of no return is where you can no longer stop without entering that space- two seconds away. Practice timing this scenario. Red Lights, Green Lights & Flashing Yellow Arrows: Every turn at a traffic light is a risky 4-second danger zone. The most dangerous is a left turn where you must stop to yield.
You should stop at a distance from the car in front of you where you can still see where their rear tires touch the pavement. That's what Mr. Kowalke taught in driving class back when I took it, so the training is consistent.
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