1993 Pontiac Grand Prix Owner's Manual - Page 147

Your Driving and the Road . .- 8raking 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 timeis about 3/4 of a second. But that's only an average. It might be less with driver and as one long as two or three seconds or more 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 lun/h) travels 66 feet (20 m).That could bea lot of distance in an emergency, so keeping enoughspace between your vehicle and others is important. 146 ~~ ~~ And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly with thesurface of the road (whether it's pavementor gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; the condition of and your brakes. Most driverstreat their brakes with care. Some, however, overworkthe braking systemwith poor drivinghabits. Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people 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 out much faster if you do a lot of heavy braking. Don't "ride" the brakes by letting your left foot lightly onthe brake rest pedal while driving. -