Braking road rule safety
With this year’s winter hotting up road accident claims nationwide, road safety groups have advised motorists to follow road safety regulations and to brush up on their driving skills.
As the snow and ice makes driving conditions worse, vehicle owners have been urged to brake properly.
The call comes after new research from a popular mechanic shop showed that almost a million (980,000) drivers have caused an accident through a braking blunder.
This does not come as a surprise to the group, especially as the survey also revealed that the majority of motorists’ braking styles do not follow the Driving Standards Agency’s guidelines.
The investigation uncovered the following types of braker and driver style: ‘Early anchor stampers’ – over 644,000 motorists (2%) prefer to brake hard at first, then ease off as they get closer to the traffic in front.
‘Dabbers’ – 3.8 million motorists (11%) keep their foot hovering over the brake pedal and dab the brakes when needed.
‘Last minute lead foots’ –Drivers that brake hard only when they are close to the traffic ahead in case it speeds up, polled at 875,000 (3%).
‘Gear grinders’ – over 11million (35%) vehicle owners use the gears to slow down – using the brakes as little as possible. Although this technique used to be taught at driving schools it’s long since been abandoned in favour of using the brakes to slow down and changing gear to match the sufficient speed. Now examiners in driving tests can penalise gear grinders for unnecessary use of the gears.
‘By the book brakers’ – Shockingly, less than half of all motorists use the correct technique of applying the brakes early and gently at first, then increasing the pressure as they get closer to traffic. Only 14.8 million (44%) adopted this technique.
Give dangerous driving a brake
David White, Customer Services Director of the group commented on road safety: “A car’s brakes are so crucial to road safety that we advise motorists to have them checked regularly – especially the last minute leadfoots. It’s a quick and easy process and doesn’t have to be left until the car’s next service or MOT.”
Drivers who are worried about the state of their brakes can get them checked for free without an appointment, at some garages.
He responded to the study: “Over time it’s easy to pick up bad habits so we’d invite motorists check out their own braking technique and make any necessary changes.
“There’s a tendency for motorists to adopt different driving styles and braking is clearly no exception. Worryingly, some of the braking styles followed by motorists are a long way from what’s recommended and in certain conditions could be unsafe.
“For example, ‘last minute leadfoots’ risk ploughing into the back of the car they’re approaching, particularly in winter conditions when the roads are often wet and greasy. ‘Early anchor stampers’ risk catching out the driver behind them that may not be expecting to slow down so soon.”
Updated on 22/12/2009