What are the keys to making a smooth stop?

Answer 1

Have you ever had to make an emergency stop from high speed, jamming the brake pedal to the floor and skidding to a stop? Have you ever been zipping along at highway speeds then spotted a lower speed limit sign and needed to slow down? What was the difference in the way you used your brake? ... You never bottom out the brake pedal. The same thing applies to making a smooth stop. The single thing that makes stopping smooth is to not think of it as stopping but to think of it as slowing down to a stop. If you want to slow down from 55 to 30 you don't jam the brake pedal to the floor, you ease on it until you have the speed you want. To stop smoothly do exactly the same thing - you are just braking gently, slowing down to zero. When you are at zero, you don't jam the brake pedal to the floor then either, you just keep the brake down far enough to keep from rolling. If there is any danger of rolling, then after you are at zero for a few moments, then gently press the pedal in the rest of the way. Stopping smoothly means that you might never bottom out the brake pedal. So the diffference in hard stops and smooth stops is more in your head than in your foot. Allow a lot more stopping distance then... Don't stop, slow down to zero. Try it!