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Suggested length - One and a half hours.
Introduction:
The emergency stop isn’t just a case of slamming on the brakes. The car needs to stop under control, in a straight line, without skidding. This means the amount of brake pressure will depend on road conditions and the road surface itself. In addition, we must learn what to do should the car skid and how to feel what type of skid the car is in.
In this lesson you will learn:
- The emergency stop
- What is a skid
- Controlling a front wheel skid
- Controlling a rear wheel skid
- Controlling a four wheel skid
- How to avoid a skid
- Progressive braking
- Stopping distances
Emergency Stop.
The emergency stop is given at random in approximately one in three driving tests. If the examiner gives it to you, he will first ask you to find a safe and convenient place to pull up on the left. He will then explain that shortly he will ask you stop as in an emergency. He will explain how he will ask you to stop - which is usually by holding his hand up and using the word ‘stop’ (surprisingly enough!).
The examiner may also explain to you that before he asks you to stop he will look over his right hand shoulder. He is doing this to make sure it is safe behind before he asks you to stop. Try not to use this to anticipate when he is going to ask you to stop.
The examiner will then ask you to drive off normally.
When he gives you the stop signal, he will expect you to:
- React quickly and stop the car promptly
- Do so under full control without skidding (see below)
- Stop in the shortest distance possible for the conditions
- Do so safely, without endangering other road users
So, for this lesson, drive to a quiet, straight piece of road and pull up on the left as if your examiner has asked you to do so. Remember, you will be asked to pull up on the left several times during your test for various reasons. Your examiner will never ask you to pull up in a dangerous place, but he will expect you to keep an eye out and make sure you are stopping somewhere safe.
So use this lesson to practice making sure you are stopping in a suitable location. Bad places would be opposite a junction, on a yellow line, across a driveway etc..
When you have secured the car, your mentor should then explain to you that he is going to ask you to do the emergency stop - as explained above.
Move away as normal, not forgetting your good observations. Don’t drive too slowly or try to anticipate when you are going to be asked to stop. When your mentor asks you to stop, do not check your rear view mirror before braking - this is, afterall, supposed to be an emergency. Imagine a child has run out in front of your car. Move your right foot to the brake and press firmly.
Do not stamp on the pedal. Brake progressively - that is to say, increase the pressure as the car slows down.
The exact amount of pressure you will need depends on the car, so practice is important. You are trying to press the pedal firmly enough to stop the car quickly, but not so firm as to cause the wheels to lock and put the car into a skid. If the car should begin to skid, release the brake pedal slightly and press it again quickly, only not quite so hard - repeat this if necessary several times in quick succession. This is called cadence braking (see below).
Whilst you are braking, try to avoid the natural instinct of pushing the clutch down too early. Leaving the clutch up stops the car more quickly because the engine slowing down helps the car to slow as well. Press down the clutch pedal just before the car stops to avoid a stall.
When the car has stopped, pull the handbrake on and put the gear lever into neutral. The examiner will then ask you to pull away when you’re ready. When you have prepared the car to move, make sure you remember to look all the way round the car before moving off. Afterall, this has been an emergency, you may have stopped in the middle of the road, there could be something (say another child) on your left, make sure it is clear before moving away and prepare to make any necessary signals - I can’t stress this strongly enough.
What is a skid:
Skidding is when the tyres no longer grip the road. It can involve complete loss of control, so before learning the emergency stop itself, it’s important to understand skidding and how to deal with it.
There are three basic types of skid: Front wheel skid, rear wheel skid, four wheel skid. In all cases, it means the wheels concerned are no longer gripping the road. How we know we are skidding depends on the type of skid.
Front wheel skid:
This is caused by braking too heavily, entering a corner too fast (here a front wheel skid is also known as ‘understeer’), accelerating too hard (front wheel drive cars) and poor tyre condition. You may wonder why I haven’t mentioned poor road conditions, such as ice. The reason is because your general driving should always take road conditions into account so that ice on its own, for example, shouldn’t be a reason for a skid. In icy conditions you should be driving in a way to make allowance for a slippery road.
That said, I do live in the real world and accept that, sometimes, things catch us by surprise - hence the lesson on how to control skidding.
You will know you are in a front wheel skid by the noise (screeching or scuffing) and loss of steering control - that is to say, you can turn the steering wheel in any direction and the car will not respond. Pretty scary!
To regain control, remain calm and try to keep the wheels in the direction of the skid. Most importantly you should immediately remove your feet from all the pedals - this way the engine braking will help you regain control. Try to anticipate the direction of the car once you have traction back - which will be surprisingly quick!
Rear wheel skid:
This is usually caused by accelerating too hard or too early when taking a corner. You can feel it when the back of the car ‘steps out’ to the left or right depending on which way you are turning.
To regain control, you should steer ‘in’ to the skid and immediately remove your feet from the pedals. So, for example, if you are going round a roundabout and the back of the car begins to slide to the left, you would remove your feet from the pedals and carefully steer to the left. When the car is back under control, carry on as normal. Remember, all these things can happen in fractions of a second.
Four wheel skid:
This is when all four wheels lose their grip with the road and is usually caused by too harsh or too sudden braking causing the wheels to lock and so slide over the surface. This is the type of skid one usually gets into if you are doing the emergency stop incorrectly. You know you are in a four wheel skid by loss of steering control, noise (scuffing or screeching) and, surprisingly, a sensation of increase in the vehicles speed.
To regain control use ‘cadence’ braking. Cadence braking effectively means pumping the brake pedal. In other words, as soon as you feel or hear the skid, release the pedal then very quickly put it down again - do this several times in quick succession until the car has come to a stop.
Stopping distances:
Read your highway code and learn your stopping distances. You may well be asked them in your theory test. Of course, 36m at 40mph doesn’t mean much until you have practiced it out on the road, but still you need to learn them.
Remember that stopping distances (including the two second rule) are doubled in the wet and are TEN TIMES in icy conditions.
And now the good news:
ABS. This is an electric or mechanical system fitted to most modern cars which helps to avoid a skid when braking. It’s good news because if you press the brake pedal too hard in an emergency stop and the wheels lock and a skid starts, the car will do the cadence braking for you - all you have to do is keep pressing the brake.
If this happens on your test, it is ok. You will feel some vibration beneath your foot as you brake, but that’s just the car doing what it’s supposed to do. This is a huge advantage in a real emergency because skidding actually lengthens the distance the car takes to stop and causes loss of steering control. ABS means you can steer around an obstacle as you brake.
Make sure your car has ABS before trying to use it! Check with the manufacturers’ handbook as to how to use it.
Conclusion:
- In this lesson you have learnt:
- How to stop the car quickly in an emergency
- How to recognise a skid
- How to control a skid
- Stopping distances
- ABS
However, the best way to deal with an emergency stop is not to have to do one in the first place. Can I now suggest that the next lesson should be Defensive Driving, because if you drive in this way then, hopefully, you may seldom (if ever) have to do an emergency stop other than in your test.
