Braking Errors and your Driving Test

Braking, as you know, is a critical part of driving. You can't drive well if you don't know how to brake. Unfortunately, bad braking is responsible for many driving test errors. Here is an article I wrote about this painful subject.

Braking Errors That Can Fail Anyone in a Driver's License Test

Cars can't keep going at the same speed for eternity. Eventually, every driver has to stop or slow down. The way the slow-down, or brake, is done is critical for the desired result and the safety of the driver and the passengers. During the driving test, braking has to be precise just like needed in real driving. However, some driving students make many braking mistakes, and some of them repeat more often than others.

Slow braking happens when the student reacts too slowly to the surroundings. The student just presses the brake pedal very slowly, thus lengthening the brake distance to a sometimes dangerous one. If the brake is slow beyond proportion, the examiner might put an end to the test.

Fast braking is the opposite of slow braking, and it is often done for emergency stops. Sudden braking is also included in the category of fast braking. This stopping method can be more dangerous than slow braking. If there is a car behind the student's car when he makes the sudden brake, an accident could happen, and many accidents already happened for sudden brakes. If there is no reason for a sudden brake when it's made, the examinee can fail.

Uneven braking is one of the examiner's most hated way of braking. It happens when the drivers don't keep their foot on the brake pedal and keep taking it on and off. This makes the car "jump", and it also throws the passengers back and forth in the car. Uneven braking is a very bad braking habit that should be used only in cars with no ABS system, and even then, only when absolutely necessary.

A symptom of fast braking is a too-early stop on intersections. Drivers, especially students on their driving test, should stop on limit lines or wherever necessary. If they brake too fast, they may stop ahead of the line. If the driving student is a "slow braker", he may stop beyond the line. Each error is marked, and too many of them could fail a student on the test.

The only way to brake properly is practice. Every driving student should get some good practice, with a good guide. Not just going out on the road and seeing what happens.

You can see some good guides that help with braking at the Pass Your Driver's License Test area of my site.

Hope you learned something.

Enjoy,
Nadav

nadavs