Tyres

Make sure your tyres are well maintained. Under heavy braking the tyres are vulnerable, and therefore so are you! Make sure your tyres have at least 3mm (the legal limit is 1.6mm) of tread across the central three quarters of the surface, and if they haven't, get good quality replacements.

tyre treadtyre tread

Also, look out for cuts, tears, and blisters in the wall of the tyre. You do not want an exploding tyre on the fast lane of a motorway!!

Tyre air pressures should be checked every week, and before long journeys. Check them when the car is cold. Warm tyres give false pressure readings. You can buy a pump/pressure guage for £10. It will save you that much in petrol just by keeping the tyres pumped up properly.

Emergency Stops

brakes

35% of driving tests will feature an emergency stop. The examiner will ask you to pull over at the side of the road, before explaining that "in a moment, he/she will ask you to stop, as if in an emergency".

After moving away from the side of the road, the examiner will look behind, and then raise their right arm, and say "STOP!"

Here is what you do:

  1. Keep both hands on the steering wheel
  2. Press the brake and clutch together. Firmly.
  3. After the car stops, apply the safety brake
  4. If you are ready to continue, check all around the car
  5. Get into first gear and move away

Cars with ABS

ABS stands for Anti-Lock Braking System. Anti lock brakes do not help you to brake. They help you to steer whilst braking. You might think of the term ABS as the 'Ability to Brake and Steer'.

A locked or skidding front wheel will not respond to steering, and therefore locked wheels are not to be desired.

If the ABS engages, you may feel a slight vibration in the brake pedal. If you want to stop quickly, keep firm pressure on the brake pedal until the car stops.

Cars without ABS (older cars)

In cars without ABS you can avoid the problems associated with locked front wheels by using 'cadence braking'. That is, if the wheels lock, release the brake and then reapply it again. In other words 'pump the brakes'.

My car is fitted with ABS. When you buy or borrow your first car, find out if it has ABS. This will affect the way you treat the brakes in emergency situations.

Tips for real emergencies

My best tip for doing emergency stops is: don't do emergency stops! (unless asked to by driving instructors and examiners).

If you are driving at a sensible speed, and you can stop within the distance you can see to be clear, and if you are anticipating hazards, and giving the road your FULL ATTENTION, then you should never have to do an emergency stop. I haven't stopped suddenly in 12 years! The last time I did was on the M11 at 70mph and it scared me so much I vowed never to do it again.

However, if you do need to stop quickly, and if the road is dry, the quickest way to stop is to hit the brakes as hard as you can. Even if the wheels lock, you will still stop as quickly as if they didn't (you just won't be able to steer).

Look at some space

If you have to avoid something (a child for example) avoid it with your eyes first. Look at some space, because you will invariably end up where your eyes went.

What's behind you?

A good driver will ALWAYS know what is behind them, and will have an idea of the consequences of stopping suddenly in a real emergency. However, you will not have time to check your mirrors prior to an emergency stop, and on test you don't need to. However, you should already know the situation anyway.