[revsperminute]

Although this analogy sounds great in theory, I don’t think it carries through to real world driving. I would be in a lot of trouble if I use the same formula for calculating braking distance in my City and the Germans in the garage. I feel leaving 3-5 seconds to react works in all situations and is easy to remember and implement in daily driving.

[NikhilReddy]

Very good discussion on safe distance breaking.
Considering the discussion may be its time that automobile companies start highlighting how far their vehicle travels before it comes to complete halt.
Stopping of a vehicle depends on many factors so is the fuel economy of an automobile. If manufacturer can publish fuel economy of their vehicles, they can also provide information on safe distance breaking of their vehicle.
May be MID in vehicle can show this number… speed 70km/hr- > Distance to complete halt is 30 meters.
It’s only a suggestion.

[supermax]

Many here have brought out the impracticality of solving equations while on the road; there is no need for that at all. Others have noted that no formula works in real life; that while being true, is not likely to help. What is missed in the Indian context is that there is no training one undergoes for braking, whereas in Sweden, where I live, there is a whole compulsory session dedicated to learning various kinds of braking and under a variety of conditions. The course leaders after introducing themselves and giving a short welcome note tell us that the cars prepared for our use have excellent tires, and that they hope that we truly put them to use and reduce a considerable amount of their lives, and they totally mean it! That is exactly what we pay for, and we get a fully safe environment where we get to really put the brakes to the test. In the process, we get confidence and get myths busted for us, so when we are on the road and really need to stop ASAP, we know what is expected.

In India, no driving school would like to have their tires destroyed, so they'll admonish you if you do hard braking, and nobody would dream of using up their tires on their own cars to practice, so when the moment arrives, it's unclear how many would even brake adequately, but I don't see much happening there. It's a low hanging fruit, to call up car makers and insist on better safety mechanisms, but it's a lot harder, and perhaps more useful to ensure better training and quality checks being done before certifying drivers safe for the roads in India.