Safe Driving with Driverthink

How and where do I stop my car?  Duh??!!  “I push the brake pedal until the car stops – preferably before I hit something, run a light or blow a stop sign.  Sound simple?  Lets “Driverthink” about it - because different drivers sure seem to have different stopping habits, not all of them very smooth ones. 
  

Actually, stopping a car is a complex mental task.  Two eyes peer out on the road and line up on the point or vehicle to be stopped at.  They establish various lines of sight to the object and points before it.  This info is then fed back into the “Stop Calculator” that sits between the ears.  The relationship of those lines is calculated multiple times and instructions are fired off to the foot, telling it to push the brake pedal just so hard for just so long.

This is not a natural skill.  It has to be developed.  The brain has to run these calculations a bunch of times before it figures out how to get it right.  Ever teach someone to drive?  “Stop.”  “Stop!!”  “STOPPP!!!!”  Why do most driver ed cars have an extra brake pedal?  So that new driver brain can develop its Stop Calculator without killing someone.
 

Cops also know about the Stop Calculator.  Sitting on the side street, waiting for someone to blow the stop sign, the officer is also keenly interested on where the driver stops.  Half way into the intersection?  Ten feet before it?  This might mean the Stop” Calculator is incapacitated, or to put it more bluntly, drunk.

Stop and go traffic is where the Stop Calculator really gets tested.  We generally see about three “styles of stop”.

First, there’s what I call the “Stop on my Tail-gater.”  He’s not your regular tailgater though.  In moving traffic he usually keeps a safe (or way more than safe) distance behind you.  But when you stop he suddenly lands 6 to 12 inches off your butt and you brace for impact!  We’ll talk more about the “Stop on my Tail-gater” next week.
 

The next driver chooses to stop in plenty of time – perhaps even five or ten car lengths behind you.  This stopper isn’t a hazard if he’s behind you but if he’s ahead of you, watch out!  He’s messing with your Stop Calculator.   You really aren’t expecting him to stop where he does, and when he does – your Stop Calculator has to quickly recalculate to keep you from slamming him.
 

Where do our good drivers try to end up?  It’s a judgment call but somewhere between at least half a car length and not more than two, would work for most.

So how can we help out our Stop Calculators in heavy traffic?

First, don’t fixate on the car in front of you.  Focus further out.  If the car directly in front of you is not showing you brake lights but twenty cars in front of her are, you have to focus your Stop Calculator on them.  The car in front of you is eventually going to stop, one way or the other, and it’s probably going to be a quick (panic?) stop.  But now your Stop Calculator has already factored that in.

In stop and go traffic, the most important tool in the car, after the brake pedal, is the rear-view mirror.  The harder I stop, the harder I focus on what’s happening behind me.  Are they stopping too?  Do I have to adjust my Stop Calculator to correct for them?  Or do I just go ahead and let them whack me?

The Stop Calculator works a lot faster on a fixed target than a moving one.  A great stopping trick is to pick a fixed spot on the road where you think you’ll be stopping, then one or two more behind it – where you may have to stop.  You can always adjust for “best case”, “worst case” but now your calculator has fixed targets and can send your brake foot a smoother stop.  Try it sometime if you haven’t already.
 

One final stopping skill that your passengers will appreciate.  Just before the car comes to a final stop, ease a little pressure off of the brake.  Plan to allow for this with your Stop Calculator.  If you simply plant the brake and hold it until you come to a complete stop, your car will jerk back on its suspension as it distributes its weight from the front of the car during the stop, to a more evenly distributed weight while standing still.
 

Easing off your brake at the final moment will smooth out this transition.  Even after a fairly hard stop, a smooth transition will instill both confidence and comfort in your passengers.  It might even keep that coffee from spilling all over your car!

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