On Monday, 8 May 2017 15:07:18 UTC+1, NY wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

I was taught when I learned in the very early 80s to change down through my
gears when coming to rest, because that is what the normal test required at
that time. My instructor had been a Police Class 1 instructor before he
retired and said "once you've passed your test, I'll teach you the *proper*
way to slow down" though unfortunately I never took him up on the extra "now
you've passed" lessons.

But when I was preparing for my IAM advanced test about 10 years later, I
was taught the "Roadcraft" way: as you approach the junction etc, stay in
whatever gear you are in, braking progressively (gently at high speed,
gradually increasing brake pressure as you slow down, then come almost off
the footbrake as you are about to stop to prevent a sudden lurch). Change
into the required gear once you know from the road conditions what that gear
is - if you can see that you can continue without having to stop, you may
need a sixth-to-second change; if you will have to stop, it's
sixth-to-first, so you are in the correct gear to accelerate away again.

I think all this business about changing through gears & always being in gear comes from the early days of the driving test when cars were a bugger to get into gear, and needing all your acceleration to avoid someone was a frequent thing. Times have changed a lot. Once you know your vehicle one can go into the right gear in a moment, there's no hanging about - this makes being in gear all the time redundant.


When I'm driving I try to lose speed in the first instance simply by lifting
off the power and letting the car slow down by friction and air resistance.
If there's a car behind me, I may press the pedal just enough to put the
lights on. If that doesn't slow me down enough, only then will I brake using
the footbrake. But I'm not one of these people (and I've ridden with them as
a passenger) who believes that your foot should always be on either the
accelerator or the brake, and that it must never be on neither pedal.

The IAM also taught me how (in a car without ABS) to brake in an emergency:
smoothly but quickly apply large pressure on the pedal (but don't stamp on
the pedal - even in an emergency *try* to phase in the braking over a
fraction of a second) and be ready to come off the brake as soon as you
detect any skidding. Ideally (and I reckon you have to be super-human to be
able to do this) keep braking to just before skid-point and then back off to
let the tyres bite - rinse and repeat. But when I tried this "cadence
braking" on a skid pan, I couldn't master it: the instinct in an emergency
is to press the pedal hard and leave it there - schooling yourself to
release the brake pedal slightly while you are rapidly approaching the
hazard is what needs superhuman skills :-)

It's quite doable. But to be honest I think doing that is the sign of not having learnt how to do it properly. You get a lot more braking effect by only braking as hard as it can take rather than repeatedly skidding & coming off the brakes. So use the candence thing when you really haven't got the hang of the car and/or road coditions, but normally once you release to stop skidding you should be able to judge fairly well how hard to brake. Manual ABS is something you need to practice to get the hang of. Friction is less than stiction, so skidding gets you less braking not more.


ABS does the cadence braking for you (that's what the rapid pulsing is in
the pedal).

Some cars use single circuit ABS. If 3 wheels have good grip & one doesn't, it lets off all 4 brakes. Such systems are a hazard.


NT