1993 Chevrolet Corvette Owner's Manual - Page 173

Your Driving and the Road Braking Braking actioninvolves perception time .and reaction:time. First, you have.to .decideto push on the br&i pedal. That's perception time. Then you have to bring up your foot and do it. That's reaction time. Average reaction time .isabout 3/4 -of, a second. But that's only an average. It might be less with one driver and-as long as two or three seconds or mQre with another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination, and eyesight all play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and frustration. But even in 3/4 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 W h ) travels 66 feet (21)m).That could be a lot of distance inan emergency, so keeping enough space between your vehicle and others important. is And, of course, actualstopping distances vary greatly wt the surface ih of the road (whether it's pavement or gravel); the conditian uf the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; arid the.condition of your brakes. Most drivers;treat.theirbrakes with care. Some, however, overwarlc the braking system with poordriving habits. Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people.drive in spurts-heavy acceleration followed. heavy by braking-rather- than lreeping pace with traffic, This.is mistake. Your a brakes maynot have h e to cool between hard.stops.Your brakes will wear out much faster if you do a lot of heavy braking. Don't "ride" the brakes by letting your leftfoot rest lightly on the hake pedal while driving. . I L