Alberta Motor Association (AMA) Learner’s Practice Exam 2025 - Free Learner's Practice Questions and Study Guide

The speed at which you are traveling is a key factor that affects your vehicle's stopping distance because the faster you drive, the greater the distance required to safely stop the vehicle. This is due to the physics of motion; as speed increases, the momentum (which is dependent on both mass and velocity) also increases. Therefore, when a driver applies the brakes, it takes additional time and distance to overcome the vehicle's momentum, leading to a longer stopping distance.

In practical terms, if you double your speed, your stopping distance can potentially quadruple because stopping distance is related to the square of the speed. This principle highlights the importance of driving at safe speeds, particularly in conditions such as inclement weather or heavy traffic, where shorter stopping distances might be crucial to avoid collisions.

While factors like the driver's reaction time, brake type, and tire condition are certainly important in relation to stopping distance, the speed at which you are traveling has a more significant and direct impact on how far the vehicle will travel before coming to a stop when brakes are applied.