An inattentive driver is traveling 18.0 m/s when he notices a red light ahead. his car is capable of decelerating at a rate of 3.35 m/s2 . if it takes him 0.200 s to get the brakes on and he is 20.0 m from the intersection when he sees the light, will he be able to stop in time?

Speed of the car given initially

v = 18 m/s

deceleration of the car after applying brakes will be

a = 3.35 m/s^2

Reaction time of the driver = 0.200 s

Now when he see the red light distance covered by the till he start pressing the brakes

Now after applying brakes the distance covered by the car before it stops is given by kinematics equation

here

vi = 18 m/s

vf = 0

a = - 3.35

so now we will have

So total distance after which car will stop is

So car will not stop before the intersection as it is at distance 20 m