Freewheelin' or Brake?
April 18, 2006 7:33 AM Subscribe
You are stopped. You glance at your rear-view mirror. You're about to be rear-ended. Continue braking? Or release the brake?
Something in your rear-view mirror catches your attention and you look up. In that next vital moment, you realize you're going to be rear-ended. (For the sake of this arguement, let's say you are stopped at a 4-way sign and no traffic from any other direction. And the impact will be at 25 m.p.h.) Will the outcome be better if you intentionally keep your foot on the brake? Or pull your foot off and become mobile? What factors play into this scenario and why?
Something in your rear-view mirror catches your attention and you look up. In that next vital moment, you realize you're going to be rear-ended. (For the sake of this arguement, let's say you are stopped at a 4-way sign and no traffic from any other direction. And the impact will be at 25 m.p.h.) Will the outcome be better if you intentionally keep your foot on the brake? Or pull your foot off and become mobile? What factors play into this scenario and why?
This post was deleted for the following reason: as requested
Although this thread may be deleted...
If there is no traffic, try to floor it and get the heck out of the way. I was in this exact scenario once. Punching the gas got me far enough out of the way and minimized the speed differential to the point that the damage was greatly diminished ($250 in damage instead of a destroyed car). Had I sat there and taken the full hit (regardless of whether or not I was still on the brake), it would have been very bad.
posted by daveleck at 7:43 AM on April 18, 2006
If there is no traffic, try to floor it and get the heck out of the way. I was in this exact scenario once. Punching the gas got me far enough out of the way and minimized the speed differential to the point that the damage was greatly diminished ($250 in damage instead of a destroyed car). Had I sat there and taken the full hit (regardless of whether or not I was still on the brake), it would have been very bad.
posted by daveleck at 7:43 AM on April 18, 2006
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Mods, please delete this posting.
posted by UnclePlayground at 7:35 AM on April 18, 2006