Stopping Smoothly

Biting The Dust

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A lot of learner drivers worry about the fact that they cannot stop the car very smoothly. When you are a passenger in a car driven by an experienced driver you will notice that the car usually comes to a nice smooth stop with very little or none of that sensation of being pulled forward in your seat after the car has stopped.

So how can you also stop the car as smoothly as that? And is it  that important? Well, to be honest it is not that easy to do and takes time and practice to perfect. Basically, the secret is that at the precise instant that the car is coming to a stop you shouldn`t  still be braking hard, but infact easing off the pressure ever so slightly so that the car actually more or less stops by itself. Once the car is stationary, the brake pressure is increased again to avoid the possibility of the car rolling either forwards or backwards. The changes in pressure on the brake pedal are very subtle and should not be noticeable to a passenger. Of course to be able to have the possibility to decrease the brake pressure just as you are stopping means that you already have full control of the car and have already reduced your speed to the point that the last meter or so before the car stops is actually no more than a controlled roll. This is where  practice is required:-being able to time  your slowing down and accurately using the correct amount of braking in various situations is a skill that needs to be developed.

The good news is that when you sit your driving test the examiner does not expect you to be able to stop perfectly smoothly. That doesn`t mean  you can get away with doing emergency stops at every junction of course! However, an occasional slightly  sharp stop  should  not be a problem. Having said that, being able  to stop the car smoothly can only make a good impression on the examiner. Don`t worry too much about it though, because you will find that as you get more experience, you will develop this skill without even thinking about it.