If an animal jumps out in front of you or another vehicle has pulled out when it shouldn’t have, your natural reaction may be to slam on the brakes. After all, your brakes are tasked with slowing you down or even bringing you to a complete standstill.
Nonetheless, brakes only do their job if they are used in a safe and appropriate manner. Slamming on your brakes could be counterproductive, and here’s why:
Long-term effects
Slamming on your brakes places them under unnecessary strain. This means that components of your braking system will overheat, meaning that they do not work. In extreme cases, your brakes might even get hot enough to catch fire.
To remain safe on the roadways, you need your brakes to work optimally. Braking too hard ultimately leads to damage, which compromises your safety and increases the risk of a collision.
Short-term impacts
Not only can inappropriate usage of your brakes cause long-term damage, but it can also place you in immediate danger. Modern safety technology such as Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) generally do a good job at preventing your wheels from locking up, but the technology is not foolproof. Slamming on the brakes could result in you losing traction, meaning that your car carries straight on at speed (understeer) or spins out of control.
To remain safe on the roads across New York you need every component of your car to function. You are also dependent on other road users maintaining their vehicles and using them responsibly. Unfortunately, you cannot control everything and accidents do happen. If you have been caught up in a collision, it might be worth taking a closer look at your legal options.