1995 GMC Safari Owner's Manual - Page 141

Braking Braking action involves perception time and reaction time. First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal. That'sperception time. Then you have to bring up your foot and do it. That's reaction time. Average reaction time is about 314 of a second. But that's only anaverage. It might be less with one driver and as long as two or three seconds or more with another. Age, physicalcondition, alertness, coordination, and eyesight all play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and frustration. But even in 314 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m). That could be a lot of distance in an emergency,so keeping enough space between your vehicle and others is important. And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly withthe surface of the road (whether it's pavement or gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; and the condition of your brakes. Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in spurts -heavy acceleration followed by heavy braking -rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is amistake. Your brakes may not havetime 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 butdon't pump your brakes. If you do, the pedal may get harderto push down. If your engine stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But you will use it when youbrake. Once the power assist is used up, it may take longer to stop and the brake pedal will be harder to push.