Certainly! Let's work through this problem step-by-step to understand the reasoning behind the required time for safely passing another vehicle traveling at 50 mph on a two-lane road.
1. Understanding the Situation:
- You're traveling on a two-lane road.
- You need to pass another vehicle moving at 50 mph.
2. Factors to Consider:
- Speed of the other vehicle.
- Distance needed to pass safely.
- Time required to execute the maneuver.
3. Time Required:
- When passing a vehicle, you need to ensure that you have enough time to overtake completely and safely return to your lane without causing any danger to oncoming traffic or the vehicle being overtaken.
4. Reasonable Time Assessment:
- 1 minute (60 seconds) is excessively long and therefore can be ruled out because it's unrealistic for a passing maneuver.
- 20 seconds is also quite long for passing another vehicle unless the road conditions are extremely unfavorable.
- 5 seconds seems too short considering the speed of both vehicles and the safety buffer needed.
5. Conclusion:
- A more reasonable time frame that allows for enough distance to increase speed, pass safely, and then return to the original lane is 10 seconds.
- This time frame offers a safe balance allowing you to make the maneuver efficiently while maintaining safety on a two-lane road.
Thus, the correct choice is:
10 seconds
