Normal braking ...

Good braking requires a lot of skill and practise.

Your car should remain balanced as you slow down without excessive pitching (dipping at the front and rear). You can achieve this by braking early and using progressive, variable pressure on the brake pedal.

Think of the words 'ease and squeeze' when braking normally.

In fact, think of the words 'eeeeeeeeeeze and squeeeeeeeeeze' (as taught to me by an elderly retired police officer many years ago!) for really fine control of both accelerator and brakes.

Ideally, as the car comes to halt the pressure on the brake should be almost zero (in many situations, your foot will be off the brake completely).

The amount of pressure that is initially applied to the brake pedal will depend on how fast you are traveling and how soon you want to stop. As a general rule, the faster you are going, the harder you will press the brake pedal.

Three 'phases' of basic progressive braking:

1. Take up the slack

Here you simply press the brake pedal enough to 'feel' the brakes starting to bite. This also switches on the brake lights to warn following drivers.

2. More pressure

Here you apply more pressure to lose the bulk of your speed. The degree of pressure and how long you hold it will depend on your speed.

3. Ease off

Here you ease the pressure on the brake pedal, sometimes releasing it altogether. This will allow the car to 'roll' to a smooth stop.

If you find it difficult to brake progressively in everyday driving, leave a bigger gap between your car and the vehicles that you are following. Also, find a long quiet road where you can practice braking with differing degrees of pedal pressure.

Things don't always go to plan, so what do you do if things go wrong? Click the forward arrow below to find out ...