Does a car use more force to break or turn a corner?

Question

You find yourself driving toward a T-intersection with a brick wall directly in front of you. Should you try to stop using the brakes and continue to move in a straight line; or should you try to turn left or right around the corner? Assume you do not have an ABS braking system to simplify the analysis. Consider only the forces acting on the car in both cases. You should be able to prove that it takes twice as much force to turn the corner as to stop in a straight line.

Thanks for any help! =)

Answer 1

If you succeed in proving your result you made a mistake. The problem can't be worked in terms of force; you have to use impulse.

Answer 2

What is the acceleration necessary to stop the car timely:

1/2 mv^2 = F*d = m*a*d

a= 1/2 v^2/d

For the turn

Centripetal acceleration a_c = v^2/r

To make the turn, r=d, ergo

a_c =  v^2/d

It will take twice the accelation to turn as to stop!