Judging car speed – yours and others

Activity: Judge your car’s speed

This activity will help your learner learn to judge how fast the car is going, making it easier to obey speed limits and drive safely in future.

• Ask your learner to sit in the car where they can see the speedo; if they can’t see it, you can tell them what your speed is.
• While the car is moving, your learner should look ahead as if they are driving - to at least to the fifth car ahead, or about where your car will be in five to ten seconds time.
• Ask them to look at the speedo and notice the car’s speed. (Check that the speed they are seeing is the same speed you seeing - the angle from which the speedo is viewed can make a difference in some cars.)
• If your learner continues to look between the speedo and then looking ahead, they will soon begin to guess what the speed is before glancing at the speedo.
• Every time your car speeds up a little or slows down, ask your learner to guess the car’s speed and then look at the speedo to test their judgement. Practice this often until they can judge speed accurately.

Activity: Judge your car’s changing speed

This activity will help your learner accurately judge how long it will take the car to slow down and speed up.

• Encourage your learner to look at what you’re doing, regularly glance at the speedo and listen to the car’s engine.
• Ask them to tell you when they notice you slowing down or speeding up, and talk to them about why you’re changing speed.
• When you begin to slow down, point out the difference between gentle braking and firm braking.
• Ask them to notice how long it takes the car to speed up and judge what your car’s speed will be at a certain point in the future.
• Let your learner work out what to do on their own, by telling them when to slow down or speed up.

Activity: Judge other cars’ speed

This activity helps learners accurately judge how fast other vehicles are travelling and roughly how long it will be before your car meets or passes them.

• First, have your learner practice judging distance using a stopwatch.
• Ask your learner to select a vehicle that is coming towards your car, start the stopwatch immediately and stop it when your car meets or passes that vehicle.
• Before they look at the stopwatch, ask your learner to guess how many seconds it took the other vehicle to meet or pass your car; then they can check the stopwatch to check how accurate they were.
• Repeat the activity, choosing types of vehicles including trucks and motorcycles.
• Repeat the activity when your car is stopped and waiting to turn into or out of an intersection.
• Repeat the activity when the other vehicle is stopped or waiting to turn into or out of an intersection.

This is a tough activity because there are so many variables - don’t be surprised if it takes your learner a while to improve accuracy. Each time they practice, they are becoming a better driver.

Next step: How to judge crash avoidance space