GIMMIE A "BRAKE!"

[John Hammer <JohnHammer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Saw this & figured it's good advice for all of us!



Fellow Miataficionados:

Wednesday, I had the horrifying experience of having some self-absorbed,

non-attentive, Northern Virginia driver decide he's going to pull an
erratic U-turn right in front of me from the right shoulder without
looking.

Now before any of my neighbors on this list get all upset, I think you
know
the type I'm talking about, and am not making sweeping generalizations.
There are many good drivers in VA, and many of them drive sportscars.
But
this is the type that drive like it's 3:00 in the morning and they're
the
only ones on the road, with no regard for where anyone else is around
them.
<rant mode off>

Anyway, Crazy Reds screaming, Pilot SxGT's squealing, I slide right into

the guy's driver-side door, nowhere to go, with the median immediately
to
my left. The flea jumps out of the car yelling at me, "why didn't I see
him
trying to make a U-turn?"
Yeah, whatever. Keep my mouth shut, call the cops. Meanwhile, I adding
up
the damage to the M2 in my head to over 2k (yup... $2100, it turns
out!).

This has really bothered me. More so that I couldn't stop, than his
stupid
behavior. This should have never happened, we were both going so slow.

So, I took the M2 to a sparsely traveled corporate road today to do some

testing.
I brought the car to about 35 mph on dry pavement (the max speed I
estimate
I was traveling when I hit said flea), buried the brakes to initiate a
skid
so I could measure the marks after coming to a stop.
A whopping 48 feet! At only 35 mph!!!
Two more practice runs *without* lock-up, and I was able to shave off 19

feet.
*19 FEET* of stopping distance gained just by keeping my head and using
good braking technique to keep the wheels rolling!!!   40% less
distance!!!
All I would have needed was about *3* feet to have completely avoided
hitting the guy.

Now, I'm not making any excuses for the flea's actions, or my inability
to
avoid his flagrant display of self-absorbedness.  All I know is, 40% can

mean avoiding a hell of a lot of stupid, needless accidents.

That being said, do yourself a favor. Go to a parking lot and practice
braking.
Practice until it becomes reflex.
Because until it becomes reflex, you are bound to go skidding into
another
car in a panic situation.


        Scott
        M2 Black & Tan


- --
John Hammer
Production Director/Z Morning Crew
WHZZ Lansing, MI
Vice President, Miata Owners of Mid Michigan
'94 Mazda Miata R-Package + Toys
'87 Alfa Romeo Milano Platinum

As a matter of fact, I do own a lot of metric wrenches!

------------------------------