Since I started driving I’ve had a problem with braking. I tend to over break resulting in a jarring stop or go too far the other way and end up in compromising positions at junctions.
So the idea of an emergency stop wasn’t exactly filling me with glee.
As I started my driving lesson the rain was bucketing from the sky which led to a quick lesson in how to use the windscreen wipers before we set off.
The flash monsoon was no bar to the emergency stop lesson as I was told I’d have to do it in the rain at some point so I may as well get it over with.
On the drive to my impending whiplash, I was pretty pleased to note that my ability to use the clutch hadn’t evaporated overnight, and I was still able to avoid the mechanical clunking of previous lessons that indicated I was slowly but surely destroying the gear box.
By the time we got to the wide, quiet streets necessary for practicing the stop the skies had cleared but the surface was shiny and this led to a bit of a safety chat on stopping distances – further compounding my feelings that people who drive so close behind you that you can see the whites of their cold, dead eyes are gits. Or morons. Or both.
Anyway, on to the stop. They are awesome. I love them and the fact that I can actually do something first time. Whooooo.
I think that it is mainly down to the fact that I have fairly good reaction times, which helps with the whole ‘emergency’ part of it.
Admittedly, they are pretty easy to master and the fact that the car has ABS makes it basically impossible to do them wrong but still. Whoooooo!
Overall I feel like I am finally on the up and up. *Watch this space for some kind of comedy-filled disaster blog next week*
YES emergency stops. always lots of fun, even with abs. did you get the juddery vibration thing in the breaks that tells you it’s working? i quite enjoyed that part, like I was actually doing something a little bit dangerous. because driving at 50mph with tarmac a foot away from my arse in a box made of metal clearly isn’t.
Actually, my instructor organised an impromptu one on my first lesson when I almost hit a child. It was fine in the end, turns out east end street urchins don’t cause much damage to vauxhall corsas. must be all the chimney sweeping they do…
I remember having trouble judging distances. I still find myself slowing down with the gears and missing the exit, either overshooting it or slowing to a gentlemanly 8mph for the last hundred yards. Practice, practice, practice.
I suck at emergency stops. Hence why poor Zsa-zsa looks like an abused spouse right now. If I am expecting an emergency stop, I brake hard, but you never get adequate notice before having to execute one, which I find quite inconsiderate.
So, I’m looking into courses in defensive driving.