How to brake?

Wait until it is really wet out or even frosty then head for an industrial estate on a Sunday. Accelerate up to 30 mph and slam the brakes on hard. You will immediatly lock up the wheels and skid. Try it again but stamp slightly harder etc etc you will sonn get the feel for the brakes on the car and what you can do. Next try to turn just before your brake. If it slides a little just ease of slightly and the wheels will grip when reapply the brake repeat etc.

It is a matter of practice practice practice. Years of driving cars without abs means you quickly learn the feel of the brakes and it becomes second nature but when you start out (especially if you learned in an ABS car) it is hard to feel the fine control.

That said no amount of practiced braking will substitute for better situational awareness. Try a little exercise when driving on your own. Do a running comentary to yourself pointing out all the potential hazards you can see infront of you. Include everything a junction ahead with no car waiting is a hazard as a car could rush out without looking. A junction with a car at it waiting is a massive hazard. You will be suprised how many hazards there are around and once you conciously acknowkledge them your driving will improve
 
When you brake hard, do it smoothly. Go from nothing to as much power as you can get through them without locking up, over the course of half a second or a second. You get used to it, I can bring my bike to a stop or shave a lot of speed off MUCH quicker these days than I used to be able to.

Only thing is, the only way you can really practice is when people pull out on you! I can't make myself brake really really hard unless I have to, but when I have to I can do it.
 
[TW]Fox;11022728 said:
It's nothing to do with you not having ABS. My car has ABS the only times it rarely ever kicks in.s
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is............... ice?

Getting people to finish your sentences now are you? :p
 
There's far too much to be said about braking techniques than is possible to fit into one post. The best thing for you to do is to get the police driver's handbook which explains just about everything you need to improve your driving, and to work through and practice the techniques.

I wholly agree that everyone should learn in a car without any electronic aids as there are inevitably situations where they don't work - I've locked the front wheels on ice even with the ABS on, and if I didn't know how to brake without I'd have been sliding well into the back of the car in front.
 
Stellios said:
Pump the brake rather than just putting your foot hard down.

And watch junctions as you come up to them, then you can at least guess what people are going to do.
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I cant remember where I read it but It was a study which actually proved cars with abs stop faster when the brake is pushed all the way down rather than pumped even if the wheels lock up
 
Rich1988 said:
I cant remember where I read it but It was a study which actually proved cars with abs stop faster when the brake is pushed all the way down rather than pumped even if the wheels lock up
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certainly true, irrelavent though as the OP doesn't have ABS. You will stop quicker cadence braking than with the ABS going nuts though (apart from on wet/greasy road probably), remember all the ABS does is reduce braking.
 
Clarkey said:
certainly true, irrelavent though as the OP doesn't have ABS. You will stop quicker cadence braking than with the ABS going nuts though (apart from on wet/greasy road probably), remember all the ABS does is reduce braking.
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oops!! I meant cars without abs stop quicker if you just keep the brake depressed rather than pumping it, I failed at typing
 
FrostedNipple said:
my thoughts exactly! When i learned how to do emergency stop in my instructors abs car, it was literally, foot to floor as hard as possible! Which tbh doesn't help 90% of new drivers, as we all get old crappy motors with no electronic aids at all! My car doesn't even have power steering!
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me too, foot to floor, no pumping with ABS, however he did explain to me that without ABS you cant do that, and you have to pump.
 
actually, I was under the impression that on a driving test emergency stop you should stop as quickly as possible without locking up, and that making the ABS kick in counted as locking up. Dashik!????
 
Clarkey said:
actually, I was under the impression that on a driving test emergency stop you should stop as quickly as possible without locking up, and that making the ABS kick in counted as locking up. Dashik!????
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Nope you are fully allowed to get ABS kicking in.
 
Clarkey said:
actually, I was under the impression that on a driving test emergency stop you should stop as quickly as possible without locking up, and that making the ABS kick in counted as locking up. Dashik!????
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but its a fail in the motorbike test funnily enough.
 
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