Learn to Break...I mean Learn Brakes!

How many seconds does it take for a collision to happen? How many seconds does it take for you to stop your bike after applying your brakes? Time is of the essence. In fact, it is so precious that it can be treated as a controlling factor during a possible collision. Five seconds delay may mean taking an innocent life. Two seconds behind and you lose a sister. That's how significant time is. It can mean serious aftermath like death. So mind you, are you not going to compromise? Stepping on the brakes to stop it takes mastery. To do this, we must first know its fundamentals. The first is - be alert all the time. How can you stop when you do not have any idea what the need is for? The second is reflexes. Quick wit and the ability to react and decide at a certain situation can make a great difference. Lastly, skill is as important as the two others. You must have the skill to manuever the brakes. How to do it is a learned skill. Practice is therefore indispensable to attain mastery of it. Rules of thumb have been developed by the Traffic Engineers. They have found out that the time varies and is dependent on whether the street surface is dry or wet. When it is dry, a person can safaly decelerate at the rate of 15 feet per second per second (fpsps). It means that an averave person can slow down at this this rate withut any likelihood that they will lose their control in the process. If the street surface is wet, an average person can decelerate at 10 fpsps. This is safely attainable by almost anyone. The more effective your braking is, the faster the stop and the lesser the distance traveled can be. Motorcycles are lighter than other automobile. Thus, a skillful rider can pretty well adjust to a probable accident compared to a car driver. With lots of practice, braking skills can be developed and mastered up to a point that a driver can already achieve deceleration rates in excess of 20 fpsps. It means stopping and avoiding accident on time. No breaking, just braking. Isn't it amazing?!