How to judge distance
This activity helps learners accurately judge the distance the
car will travel at different speeds and how long it will to get
there.
When they start driving, this will help them avoid possible
crash situations, traffic hold-ups, and predict when they may need
to slow down or speed up.
Activity: Judging distance
- Grab a stopwatch and give your leaner some time to practice
with it – they need to be able to use it accurately without
looking.
- You learner will wait for the car to be travelling at a steady
speed, then choose a point or object or near the side of the road
that they think is about three seconds away, and immediately start
the stopwatch.
- They will then stop the stopwatch when the front bumper of your
car gets to the object.
- Let them check the stopwatch - if they have good judgement they
will see a reading that is extremely close to three seconds.
- If the reading is more than 3.1 seconds or less than 2.9
seconds, they should keep practicing – their accuracy will soon
improve.
- When they are good at judging three seconds at different
speeds, they can try judging a point five seconds ahead, then 10,
15, 20, 25, 30, 60.
Some people judge distance in car lengths - the problem with
this is there is no way of checking it. A stopwatch gives accurate
feedback.
The Road Space game
is good practice for judging distance.
Next activity: Learning to
judge car speed
