Re: One foot over the brake

[Jim Ochi <jochi@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris Barton wrote:
>With my 89 bronco I learned (cause I could see over the top of
>most drivers) that most people hit their brake lights waaaaaaayyyyy
>befor they have to and if you leave enough distance between you and the
>car in front of you (less than you'd probably think) you usually don't
>have to hit your brakes at the FIRST sign of red in front of you. If you
>learn to read the traffic around you, after a while you get pretty good
>at anticipating whats going to happen. 
>All in all I believe this makes for MUCH smoother traffic flow as the
>chain reaction that occurs every time someones brakelights go on for
>more than just a second goes back about 10 cars or more. 

and Thaddeus Wakefield Batt wrote:
>
>in freeway traffic it means that you don't have to put your foot on the
>brake when you see the guy in front's brake lights come on (assuming
>you're leaving the correct distance between you and they ... not always
>possible in Massachusetts, but still a good idea) - just
>remove foot from gas and place above brake pedal (just in case those
>brake lights suddenly get a lot BRIGHTER, of course) to decelerate nicely.

Just had to throw in my 2 cents on this.  I'm not so concerned about
hitting the car in front of me - I'm paying attention to my driving, and I
know from practice how well my brakes work on my car.  What I'm concerned
about the most is that the person in the car behind me is usually on the
cell phone, reading the newspaper, putting on makeup, etc. - the idiot is
usually so distracted that driving is the very last thing they're thinking
about.  There is absolutely no way that they're going to notice that my car
is slowing down unless they see my brake lights come on.  Almost every time
I use engine braking (or just coast) to slow down in traffic, the person
behind me closes right up to my bumper before they realize that I'm slowing
down.  Then, if I use my brakes, I get to see saucer-sized eyeballs in my
rear view mirror, and get to hear the tire squeal as they lock up their
brakes...

So, since I can't put a naked Cindy Crawford on my trunk holding a stop
sign, I brake a little softer and a lot earlier, so I have some room if the
guy behind me isn't paying attention...

Jim Ochi
jochi@domain.elided

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