Stopping Distances
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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.
The two second rule:
When you are travelling over about 30mph, it may be easier to use the 'two second rule' to judge if you are the correct distance behind the vehicle in front.
When the vehicle you are following passes an object, say a bridge or a lamp post, say to yourself, "Only a fool forgets the two second rule". If you have passed the object before finishing the sentence, you are too close.
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.
