Final answer:
D. time. To respond to a driving event successfully, adequate time is essential to perceive the hazard and act. At 30.0 m/s, a car will travel 15 meters during a 0.500-second reaction time, and the driver must account for this in addition to the braking distance under various road conditions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before you can successfully respond to a driving event, you must have adequate time. This involves having enough time to recognize the hazard, process the information, decide on an action, and then execute that action, such as braking or steering. To calculate how far the car travels during the reaction time, you can use the formula: distance = speed × time.
If the car is traveling at 30.0 m/s and has a reaction time of 0.500 seconds, it will travel 15 meters before the driver even begins to brake. It is essential that the distance necessary to stop the car is then added to this reaction distance, which can vary greatly depending on road conditions and whether the pavement is dry or wet.