A car hits a tree at an estimated speed of 25 mph on a 3% upgrade. If skid marks of 120 ft. are observed on a dry pavement (f = 0.35)followed by 250 ft (F = 0.25) on a grassy –stabilized shoulder, estimatethe initial speed of the vehicle just before the pavement skid began.
This problem involves only the braking distance, which is assumed tobe the same as the length of the measured skid marks. The speed atthe collision point is estimated to be 25 mi/h. Working backwards, wecan estimate the speed at the beginning of the grass skid, and then thespeed at the beginning of the pavement skid, as illustrated below: