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A Driving Lesson

I'm about to discuss something different than I usually do. Though the usual stuff is also bizarre, but that's just a happy coincidence.

What will be the best way to stop a car safely and quickly, if you are at a high speed and it suddenly becomes a matter of life and death?

Let's suppose you are driving at a speed of 60kmph and suddenly something(or someone) comes in front of you. Assuming you don't have a vehicle with power breaks, what shall be the sequence of events to slow down the car, possibly make it come to a halt?

Normally people have a reflex of pulling clutch first, putting off the leg from the throttle and then applying the break. That's decent choice to do but that's only if the vehicle is in controllable speeds, i.e. near 40kmph. What will you do if your speed is too much and you are to stop?
Think.
It a matter of life. What can you possibly do to make sure everyone is safe.
Think.
Think.

Let me give you a hint. It's just a change in the series of actions you perform in the car.
Now refine your thinking!
You can not pull the handbrake obviously because the speed is too high for that.
Another hint: what force and things are into play in the current scenario.
> Gravity
> Friction
and most important of all
> the Engine

Now if you have figured out things your own way, you might just read further to look at another way of doing it. If you have not, then you are an average person like rest of the 95% of them. So it's important for you to just read and improve your attention & driving skills because it's a matter of someone's life.

The moment you press the clutch, your car, in some way, comes into a state of free fall(the term is used in physics to explain a free flow). Which causes inertia to play its part and the complete pressure to stop the car is on the breaks. And they are certainly not so efficient as they are not the power breaks. They will take their own time to stop the vehicle, which might be much more than required to save the "someone" in front of you.
So what do you do? You distribute the pressure.
Here the engine comes to rescue.
The engine has a particular "low speed" with every gear. For example:
2nd gear -> 10 km/h
3rd gear -> 29 km/h
4th gear -> 33 km/h
I am assuming the vehicle to have max 4 gears, but of course, this thing depends on your car! SO KNOW YOU CAR WELL ENOUGH BEFORE GETTING INTO SITUATIONS LIKE THIS.

Now use the gears to slow down. Instead of pressing the clutch and letting gravity to dominate the scene, get off the clutch, put off the throttle and apply breaks at the same time. The Engine will cause the car to slow down due to that gear(as it will work against the gravity as well as increase the friction) and the breaks will get them to that "low limit" almost instantly. This will happen in the fraction of a second. But that's not all. Remember that you are still in that "low limit" and the car is still moving. Now to save the day, apply clutch and put the breaks simultaneously and your car will stop.

I know this sounds too much, but trust me it's just because of my writing style. There's not much into it. You just need to be in practice and attentive enough to do so (which you should be because you are driving).
So try this at low speeds to come in practice and be prepared to save someone's life.

Cheerio!! :)

p.s. always keep seatbelts on people! It's for your own good.

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