Braking Techniques in an Emergency

Obviously, the best way to stop quickly is to hit a tree but it isn’t such a popular option if you ask me. People have reported that hitting a concrete wall works equally well but even this option doesn’t have the best of endings by any means for the passengers, or the car, or the wall itself.

Joking aside, traffic rules in our country are defined. I am not saying that they are the best in any way but we have a groundwork laid out. The government runs campaigns in every form and manner to ensure they get the message across to the citizens of the nation. Unfortunately, no-one takes it seriously. Now, as I am sure you are aware, traffic rules and regulations are defined to ensure everyone on the road gets where they intended to go, safely. And there is a lot to it. We, however, are going to focus on one utterly underrated aspect of the vehicle you drive: The brakes.

There is this witchcraft techy thing called ABS – Antilock Braking System. ABS is offered in nearly all the cars we purchase today. In some, it comes as standard and in some it comes as an optional extra or in the costlier variants. With the kind of traffic we all run into these days and the erratic driving skills that nearly everyone proudly showcase, it is important to know how your car will behave under intense braking. The easiest way to explain how brakes with ABS behave is to compare it to a setup with brakes without ABS.

If I may speak for everyone, no one wants to drown in their own faeces by applying brakes like a lunatic and scaring themselves to death. Come to think of it, the drowning will become even more resentful if you have passengers – Just a thought! But at times, you come across situations when you have no other option but to brake as hard as possible to stop the car in the shortest possible distance. Onwards then to the boring stuff.

Braking without ABS 

What people usually do: In an emergency, everyone tends to mash the brake pedal into the floor. However, in such a situation, the wheels lock and rather than braking quickly the car skids towards the object you are trying to miss. Because the wheels lock under intense braking, there is virtually no way to steer the way around the object. That, of course, also depends on the size of the object and on the intentions of the driver!

What to do: Slamming the brakes hard is possibly the worst thing you can do in an emergency. Then? Well, let me explain. Follow these steps:

        1)   Squeeze the brakes gently but firmly right up till the limit where the tyres start to skid. If you have reached the skidding stage, you will lose control of your vehicle. You need to back-off and reapply the brakes in a gentler but firmer manner. You will hear a faint howl from the tyres before the threshold is reached. Don’t worry, it simply means you are doing the right thing but not locking up the brakes.

       2)   Don’t look at the object that you are trying to miss. Having said that, you should be aware of any movement that the object in front of you might make. In India, various situations can arise: both with living and non-living things. Just be aware of any potential movement that the object might make. Now, because the wheels haven’t locked up, you have some steering control available. Try and carve a way to miss the object in front of you. This is important whether your car has ABS or not.

             3)   Press your left foot against the floor of the car. This will help you brace your body against the damage and make you sensitive to knowing how you should modulate the brake pedal. Again, this can be helpful whether ABS is present or not.

       
       4)   Try and master this technique if you can’t be bothered to buy a car with ABS. Empty parking lots is the ideal place to do this. Even better, try and measure the difference in distance your car stops under intense braking with wheels locking up, and with the more subtle approach explained above.

Braking with ABS

Well, let’s admit it, not all of us understand how ABS works. Although I will take this opportunity to explain what it is and how it works (whether you want me to or not), I would like to employ you all to please read it carefully. ABS is an automatic feature which does the braking part exactly how it was explained above. The driver pushes the brakes hard and then ABS figures out what to do under such circumstances of braking. It uses wheel speed sensors to determine if one or more wheels are trying to lock up. Once that stage is sensed by ABS, a series of hydraulic valves limit or reduce the braking on that wheel. This in-turn prevents skidding of the car and allows drivers to gain steering control of the car.

What people usually do: What people end up doing is that they apply the brakes but don’t do anything to steer their way around the object. Also, on feeling a pulsating sensation from the brakes, they let go of it at times. Although ABS will work to help the car stop in the shortest distance possible, the stopping distance also depends on the size of the brakes. Bigger and stronger the brakes, better the ABS efficacy.

What to do: Follow these steps to get the best out of the braking system and make that spending a little extra for the ABS, worth it: 

       1)   While braking hard if you feel that pulsating sensation from the brakes, don’t back off. That just simply means that ABS is doing its job well.

       2)   Depress the brake pedal rapidly but not instantly. This is vital to maximize the braking potential of your car. The ultimate goal is to bring the car’s tyres just shy of breaking traction.
 

             3)   Don’t swerve the car and brake at the same time. Gentle turning of the steering is enough at higher speeds to miss the object in your way. Any vigorous movements or jerks with the steering wheel can lead you to losing control of the car. 

       4)   Avoid using the transmission for quick stops. Everyone knows that slotting home a smaller gear at higher speeds can greatly reduce the speed of the car in a jiffy and with a neck-wrecking jerk. But this is possibly the worst punishment you can give to your car. It can severely damage the clutch, the gearbox and the engine itself. However, on long downhill stretches without any engine power, using gears to slow down is a different story.

Whether you have ABS or not in your car, don’t press the clutch pedal while intense braking. Pressing the clutch with the brakes can actually hamper the braking potential of your car. There are a lot of boring and uninteresting things behind this theory but I am done being boring and uninteresting for this piece.

Now that we have covered both the sides, here is a video that explains all of it in 47 seconds. Thanks to the uploader allegroracing on YouTube.

I came across a link on a website which has one paragraph on HOW TO STOP QUICKLY. I thought you guys might want to give it a read. They’ve wrapped it up in the best way they could! 

Delhi Govt. Website Link 

Quite a serious topic we’ve covered here. I’ve tried to maintain my composure (as much as I could) and I’m sure you guys have noticed, unless you’ve nodded off. I don’t blame you. Not at all. But think of all this in this way. We spend loads on accessorizing our cars with cameras, sensors and what not. You might want to spend that little extra on the brakes as well. At the end of the day, even an inch of gap can save lives. Drive safe.