“Emergencies can happen at any time. You might never have to do an emergency stop in your life. On the other hand, you might need to do one the day after you pass your driving test. You must always be prepared.
All modern cars have anti-lock braking. This allows steering and braking at the same time. With this in mind, it’s important to concentrate on where you want the car to go in an emergency situation, for example, if a child runs out in front of you, you need to look away from the child. When you do this, you will naturally steer away.
In an emergency, you need to react immediately. This means that there will not be enough time to check your rear view mirror before you start to brake. Your mirror is important, but it’s not an immediate priority.
Keep both hands on the steering wheel and press the brake pedal quickly and hard. In cars with anti-lock brakes, you may hear a rattling sound or feel the brake pedal pulsate. This is normal. Keep the pedal pressed down until the car stops.
Press the clutch pedal down immediately after the brakes start to bite. It’s very important not to press the clutch pedal before the brake pedal because this will make the car unstable and you could lose control as you are braking or as soon as possible.
As the car stops, check your mirrors. Although you’ve dealt with a danger ahead, there could still be danger behind that might need further action. For example, you might need to quickly move your car out of the way, especially on a busy road. If there is no immediate danger from behind, pull on the handbrake as soon as the car is stopped and then select neutral gear.
Never use the handbrake to help you stop. Doing this could cause the car to skid out of control and you need both hands on the steering wheel for stability.
Both when practicing and in a real emergency, your car will not be in a well-parked position after you have stopped. You will need to move to a safe parking position as soon as possible. With adrenaline pumping, it’s easy to forget your safety checks. Take a deep breath and then look all around you before moving off.
Depending on where your car is stopped, traffic could pass on either side, so you need to be especially careful.
The key points are:
– Your mirrors are important but are not the main priority
– You must act immediately in an emergency
– Check your mirrors after braking or stopping
– Keep both hands on the steering wheel until the car is stopped
– Pull the handbrake on after stopping
– Brake quickly and hard – The anti-lock brakes might pulsate or rattle, this is normal
– Look where you want to go, away from the danger
– Take care when moving off”
