The long story of how I became a car enthusiast in Norway. Part 16. Our reaction to braking.

From 0.5 sec. to 3 sec. It turns out like this: we are driving at a speed of 20 km/h. We have seen a cat sitting in the middle of the road and understand that it is not going to run away, but continues to sit on the road. And you are driving at 20 km and in 1 second take the decision to brake. So in that second you have already travelled 5.5 m and pressed the brake on dry asphalt, “stretched” another 2 metres!! That’s all. Stopped. The cat is alive and of course ran away in time.

And what does that mean? That at such a minimal speed you needed as much as 7.5 metres to a full stop?! (perhaps that is the length of your living room, 7.5 m). I am writing this now and figuring it out myself. But they have already figured it out in the textbook before me and compiled a table.

If we are driving at a speed of 40 km/h, then our second for thinking is 11 m! Then we sharply press the brake and “stretch” another 8 m! The main thing is that we all together must understand that even with a very good reaction of 1 second, the car will not stop at once.

And further I write only figures: 50 km/h we think — 14 m, we brake and “pull another 12.5 m.” At a speed of 60 km/h we think 1 second — 17 m, we brake and “stretch” 18 m. If we are driving 80 km/h (this is outside town, where animals may appear on the road) we think and travel 22 m, press the brake and “stretch” 32 m!!!

I will not now calculate what braking will be on the highway at a speed of 100 km…. therefore we keep a distance and do not trail behind heavy goods vehicles, but switch on the left turn, after that look in the side mirror and also turn the head a little back (to see the left lane better, and if it is occupied by cars, we let them pass and only after that enter at the same speed as before (100 km).

We do not occupy the left lane for long, only overtake the heavy goods vehicle or trailer that is moving in the right lane. We switch on the right turn, look in the right side mirror, and when the heavy goods vehicle has remained “well behind,” we smoothly enter the right lane and continue moving.

To be continued….