TimLee said:
The right response depends on the situation.
But 95% of the time, panic braking is the right response.
Yes, it is certainly situational, and braking hard is often a correct response, if only to reduce the kinetic energy before any impact, minimizing the resulting g-forces and damage in the crash. But it is always better to avoid the accident if at all possible, and this can only be done by being alert and focused, looking ahead and anticipating situations as much as possible, maintaining attention on the driving task, and being in full control of the vehicle at all times, especially when radical evasive maneuvers are necessary. Many people never even learn how to control their vehicles in extreme situations at the limits of grip, and we license them to drive without any such experience necessary. Waiting until something happens to learn car control is not an effective strategy, which is why I advocate for a policy that every school kid take a driving course like the
Tire Rack Street Survival School before earning their license. Yes, vehicle safety has improved drastically over the years, with safety equipment like energy absorbing bumpers and chassis crumple zones, airbags, and electronic nannies like ABS and traction control systems to help people control their cars, but we still kill about 30,000 people per year in traffic accidents, and accept it as a routine "cost of doing business." We have spent trillions of dollars fighting terrorists who killed 3,000 people on 9/11, yet 30K deaths per year on our highways doesn't merit any funds for advanced driver training? Please excuse the rant, here, but it is a pet peeve of mine. I have instructed at such schools for over a decade now, and have heard first hand the positive results of such training, saving people from severe accidents by being prepared.
Even in the recent situation you cited, Tim, of a vehicle turning out in front of you suddenly, there was a possibility that you would need the accelerator if things had gone slightly differently, and if you were coasting in neutral (which I understand you were not, thankfully), you might not have had that option available to control the car adequately. Say the truck had not reacted and stopped like it did, but kept pulling out. You said that panic braking was not adequate to avoid crashing into them. What do you do next if they proceed to pull out? I would have braked hard in a straight line as you did, but at the last moment, if impact was inevitable, I would have tried an "accident avoidance lane-change" maneuver, a quick and extreme steering input to try to get my car around them, to one side or the other, depending on which path was clearer. If that succeeded and I was able to steer around them, in the act of straightening out to avoid running off the road or into oncoming traffic, it is likely the car would oversteer from the radical steering input applied. At that time you would want to counter-steer and accelerate mildly to settle the car and control any skid or impending spin induced from the excessive yawing forces. If you were coasting and couldn't get it in gear again during these chaotic actions, you would be SOL and spinning down or off the road out of control.
Even if such responses were necessary in less than 5% of such emergency situations, I would want to be prepared for them. And my last rant for the day: Please, people, hang up those cell phones and just drive! (That includes fiddling with your Leaf battery app while driving). Distracted driving kills!
TT
