1998 Chevrolet Cavalier Owner's Manual - Page 186

Braking Braking action involves perception timeand 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 lesswith one driver and as long as two three seconds ormore with or 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 kmh) 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 distancesvary greatly with the surface of the road (whether it's pavement or gravel); thecondition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; the condition of your brakes; theweight of the vehicle and the amount of brake force applied. Avoid needless heavy braking. Somepeople drive in spurts -- heavy acceleration followed by heavy braking -- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool between hard stops. Your brakes will wear outmuch 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 everstops while you're driving, brake normally but don't pump your brakes. If you do, the pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine stops, you will still have some powerbrake assist. But you will use it when you brake. Once the power assist is used up, it may take longer to stopand the brake pedal will be harder to push. 4-6