1998 Buick Park Avenue Owner's Manual - Page 208

Braking action involves perreption time and reaction time. First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal. That's perception time. Then you have to bring up your foot and do it. That's reaction time. Average reaction timeis about 314 of a second. But that's only an average. It might be less with one driver and as long as two OS three seconds ormore with another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination and eyesight dl play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and frustration. But even in 3/4 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 m p (100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m . ph ) That could be alot 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's 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. Sometimes, as when you're driving on snow or ice, it's easy to ask more of hose control systems than the tires and road can provide. That means you can lose control of your vehicle.