Braking action involves perception time and reaction time.

First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal. That is perception time. Then you have to bring up your foot and do it. That is reaction time.

Average reaction time is about 3/4 of a second. But that is only an average. It might be less with one driver and as long as two or three seconds or more with another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination and eyesight all play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and frustration. But even in 3/4 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m). That could be a lot of distance in an emergency, so keeping enough space between your vehicle and others is important.

And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly with the surface of the road (whether it is pavement or gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; the condition of your brakes; the weight of the vehicle and the amount of brake force applied.

Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in spurts -- heavy acceleration followed by heavy braking -- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool between hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much faster if you do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace with the traffic and allow realistic following distances, you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking. That means better braking and longer brake life.

If your engine ever stops while you are driving, brake normally but do not pump your brakes. If you do, the pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But you will use it when you brake. Once the power assist is used up, it may take longer to stop and the brake pedal will be harder to push.

Your vehicle may have anti-lock brakes. ABS is an advanced electronic braking system that will help prevent a braking skid.

If your vehicle has anti-lock brakes, this warning light on the instrument panel will come on briefly when you start your vehicle.

When you start your engine, or when you begin to drive away, your anti-lock brake system will check itself. You may hear a momentary motor or clicking noise while this test is going on, and you may even notice that your brake pedal moves or pulses a little. This is normal.

Let us say the road is wet and you are driving safely. Suddenly, an animal jumps out in front of you. You slam on the brakes and continue braking. Here is what happens with ABS:

A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If one of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer will separately work the brakes at each wheel.

The anti-lock system can change the brake pressure faster than any driver could. The computer is programmed to make the most of available tire and road conditions. This can help you steer around the obstacle while braking hard.

As you brake, your computer keeps receiving updates on wheel speed and controls braking pressure accordingly.

Remember: Anti-lock does not change the time you need to get your foot up to the brake pedal or always decrease stopping distance. If you get too close to the vehicle in front of you, you will not have time to apply your brakes if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops. Always leave enough room up ahead to stop, even though you have anti-lock brakes.

Using Anti-Lock

Do not pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down firmly and let anti-lock work for you. You may feel a slight brake pedal pulsation or notice some noise, but this is normal.

At some time, nearly every driver gets into a situation that requires hard braking.

If you have anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the same time. However, if you do not have anti-lock, your first reaction -- to hit the brake pedal hard and hold it down -- may be the wrong thing to do. Your wheels can stop rolling. Once they do, the vehicle can not respond to your steering. Momentum will carry it in whatever direction it was headed when the wheels stopped rolling. That could be off the road, into the very thing you were trying to avoid, or into traffic.

If you do not have anti-lock, use a "squeeze" braking technique. This will give you maximum braking while maintaining steering control. You can do this by pushing on the brake pedal with steadily increasing pressure.

In an emergency, you will probably want to squeeze the brakes hard without locking the wheels. If you hear or feel the wheels sliding, ease off the brake pedal. This will help you retain steering control. If you do have anti-lock, it is different. See "Anti-Lock Brake System" in this section.

In many emergencies, steering can help you more than even the very best braking.