The Grand Illusion Of Simple Safe Driving Practice: “Are you trying to make me a bad driver?”
“I can stop anytime.”
It’s the universal answer. Hitting the brakes is some magic solution that’ll keep you safe, no matter what. But in truth, the skills needed to go from 120 km/h down to 0 are way more complex than that. Every speed along the way has its own reaction time, its own momentum, and requires a completely different braking response to keep the car under control. It’s not some simple on/off switch where the brake is either fully pressed or not. Driving isn’t binary; it’s not just “go or stop.”
Removing Your Momentum Requires a Huge Range of Skills
In real driving, you need a range of inputs to handle whatever’s around you: slowing down gradually, speeding up when needed, steering, and re-evaluating constantly. Braking isn’t just about pushing the pedal down. It’s about controlling it so you don’t send the car into a skid, or worse, a slide if you’re on loose sand or an uneven road surface. And let’s be honest—when you start teaching someone to apply stronger gas or harder brakes, almost every new driver feels completely out of their element. They get uncomfortable, even panicked. They ask, “Are you trying to make me a bad driver?” because they feel the turbo kick in or the car’s nose dips hard during braking, and it’s a whole new, unsettling sensation.
Full Brake Lockup Panic – ABS Anti Lock Brake System
And then there’s the magical “full brake lockup.” When I show drivers what an ABS feels like—where the computer takes over and stops the wheels from fully locking up—it often creates total panic. They feel that ABS thumping through the pedal, hear that loud “BANG BANG BANG” sound, and think the bumper must’ve fallen off.
Zero Experience with the Reality of a Full Lockup or Hard-braking or Managing Your Momentum
All these skills, these reactions, this whole range of car control is brand new to almost every driver I meet. Yes, they’re licensed. But when real trouble comes, most don’t have the skills needed to navigate an emergency. Why? Because they’ve been conditioned to believe in that one “magic” answer that’ll solve everything: “I can just stop!”
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