The faster you drive, what happens to your reaction time to stop?

When driving at increased speeds, the time it takes for a driver to react to a situation and bring their vehicle to a stop is lengthened. This phenomenon occurs because the driver faces more urgent circumstances that may impair their judgment and reaction time, coupled with the increased distance the vehicle covers during that interval.

At higher speeds, the vehicle travels farther in the time it takes for the driver to perceive a hazard and begin to respond by braking. This means that not only is the time to react greater, but the stopping distance—which includes both perception time and braking distance—also increases significantly. As a result, drivers must be especially cautious at high speeds and maintain a safe following distance, ensuring they have sufficient time to react to any potential hazards in their driving environment.