How far does a car take to stop?
Braking distance rises with the square of speed. Doubling from 30 to 60 km/h does not double the distance — it quadruples it.
Almost exactly 30 mph — 23 m to stop
50 km/h is faster than 2 of the 6 references on this page.
Reference figures are measurements and are rounded; the unit conversion behind them is exact.
| Reference | Size | Yours ÷ theirs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mph — 12 m to stop | 32 km/h | 1.56× | |
| 30 mph — 23 m to stop | 48.2 km/h | 1.04× | |
| 40 mph — 36 m to stop | 64.4 km/h | 0.776× | |
| 50 mph — 53 m to stop | 80.6 km/h | 0.62× | |
| 60 mph — 73 m to stop | 96.5 km/h | 0.518× | |
| 70 mph — 96 m to stop | 113 km/h | 0.444× |
Worth knowing
- At 70 mph a car covers 96 m before stopping — the length of a football pitch — of which 21 m passes before the brakes are even applied.
- Thinking distance is proportional to speed; braking distance is proportional to speed squared. That is why the total grows so fast.
Frequently asked
How far does a car travel before the brakes work?
About 0.7 seconds of thinking time. At 30 mph that is 9 m; at 70 mph, 21 m — before any deceleration at all.
Are the Highway Code figures realistic?
They are conservative for a modern car on dry tarmac, which typically stops in about two-thirds of the quoted distance. In the wet, doubling is a better rule.
How to read this
Distances shown are the UK Highway Code figures for a car in good condition on a dry road, including thinking distance.