DRIVER BEHAVIOUR  -  Emergency braking

Start position

• Instictive panic like braking action
• Potential danger recognized

During good grip

Excess pressure is also applied because of the "natural logic" that increasing the pressure on the brake pedal leads to more efficient braking. The driver may even pull the steering wheel to increase the pressure on the pedal.

Applying excess pressure on the brake pedal adds physical difficulty to steering because the muscles of upper body, arms and hands become tensioned.

The visual field of the driver shrinks (becomes narrower) in emergency. Therefore drivers very often miss the utilization of steering options to drive around the danger.

During poor grip

The driver becomes more panicked if the experienced deceleration is much less than expected. The driver may even experience acceleration instead of the actually happening deceleration. This may lead the driver to think that the brakes are non-functional and to press harder or to pump repeatedly the brake pedal.