On 2007-05-09 15:49:09 +0100, John Rumm said:

Andy Hall wrote:

No it isn't. Published stopping distances are based on averages under
particular conditions.

The ones in the highway code also seem to assume that you are driving a
Moris 1100 with crossply tyres and non servo assisted drum brakes.
(which since the published numbers have not changed since that may have
been the case is perhaps not surprising)

I was working on one project which involved the occasional trials
session over at the TRL research labs site. Some of the guys took the
opportunity to play with some of the measurement gear on their own
cars. They found that even the most mundane modern family cars could
stop in less than half the distance presented by the highway code.

Exactly. Same here, and I live quite close to TRL.