1998 Pontiac Firebird Owner's Manual - Page 175

Braking Braking action involves perception time and reaction time. First, you have to decide push on the brake pedal. to That's perception time. Then you have to bring up your foot and doit. That's reaction time. Average reaction time is about 314 OS a second. But that's only an average. It might be less with one driver and as long as or three secondsor more with two 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 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m). That could be lot of distance in an emergency, so a keeping enough space between your vehicle and others is important. And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly with the surface the road (whether it's pavement of or gravel); the condition the road (wet, icy); tire of dry, of tread; the condition of your brakes; the weight the vehicle and the amount brake force applied. of Some people drivein Avoid needless heavy braking. spurts heavy acceleration followed heavy by braking -- rather than keeping pace with traffk. This is a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool between hard stops.Your brakes will wear out much faster if you do a lot of heavy braking.If you keep pace with the traffic and allow realistic following distances, you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking.That means better braking and longer brake life. -- If your engine ever stops while you're driving, brake normally but don't pump your brakes. you do, the If pedal may get harderto push down. If your engine stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But you will use it when you brake. Once the power assist is used up,it may take longer to stop and the brake pedal will be harder push. to