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Braking
Braking action involves
perception time
and
reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That’s
perception time.
Then you have to bring up
your foot and do it. That’s
reaction time.
Average
reaction time
is
about
314
of a second. But
that’s only an average.
It
might be less with one
driver and as long
as
two or three seconds or more with
another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination
and eyesight all play a part.
So
do alcohol, drugs and
frustration. But even in
3/4
of
a second, a vehicle
moving at
60
mph
(
100
km/h)
travels
66
feet
(20
m).
That could be a lot
of
distance in an emergency,
so
keeping enough space between your vehicle and
others
is
important.
And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface
of
the road (whether
it’s
pavement or
gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; the condition of your brakes; the weight of the
vehicle and the amount
of
brake force applied.
Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive
in spurts
--
heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking
--
rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is
a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool
between hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much
faster if you do a lot
of
heavy braking. If you keep pace
with the traffic and allow realistic following distances,
you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking. That
means better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you’re driving, brake
normally but don’t pump your brakes.
If
you do, the
pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But
you
will
use
it when you brake. Once the power assist
is used up, it may take longer
to
stop and the brake pedal
will be harder
to
push.
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