1996 Pontiac Firebird Owner's Manual - Page 166

Control of a Vehicle Braking You have three systems that make your vehicle go where Braking action involves perception time and youwant it togo.They are thebrakes,thesteeringandreaction time. the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal. at the places where the tires meet the road. That's perception time. Then you have to bring up your fo.ot and do it. That's reaction time. Average reaction time is about 314 of a second.But that's only an average. It might be less with one driver and as longas twoor three seconds or more with another. Age, physicalcondition, alertness, coordination and eyesight all play a part. do alcohol, drugs and So frustration. But even in 3/4 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 k / ) m htravels 66 feet (20 m). That could be a lot of distance in an emergency,so keeping enough spacebetween your vehicle and others is important. And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly or with the surface of the road (whether it's pavement gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; and the conditionof your brakes. Sometimes, as when you're driving on snowor ice, it's easy to ask more of those control systems than the tires and road can provide. That means you lose control can of your vehicle. 4-5