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
OS
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
traffk.
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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