fékut

Fékut, often written fékut without diacritics, is a term used in road traffic to denote the braking distance—the length of road traveled from the moment the brakes are applied until the vehicle comes to a stop. In Hungarian traffic safety literature it is usually considered together with reaction distance as part of the total stopping distance.

A simple estimate of the braking distance uses the equation d = v^2 /(2a), where v is the initial speed in meters per second and a is the deceleration during braking. On dry pavement with well-maintained brakes and tires, deceleration for a modern passenger car typically falls in the range of about 6 to 9 meters per second squared, yielding braking distances from tens of meters at lower speeds to several tens of meters at highway speeds. The reaction distance, equal to speed multiplied by an average driver reaction time (roughly 1.0 to 1.5 seconds), is added to obtain the total stopping distance.

Several factors influence fékut. Road conditions (dry, wet, snow, ice), tire tread and pressure, brake system condition (including the presence of ABS), vehicle mass and balance, and environmental conditions such as wind or gradient all affect deceleration and thus the braking distance. Safety guidelines emphasize maintaining a safe following distance that accounts for potential increases in fékut under adverse conditions, ensuring the driver has sufficient time to stop.