Single-lane braking technique for commuting

[kurth83]

This is a piece of advice I wish someone had told me when I began commuting in traffic, in unfortunately long-winded form.

This is about a simple braking technique for commuting in traffic on the highway that really changed things for me. I am not talking about splitting, this is for when you are in your lane.

I had a regular occurence of panic stops the first few years of commuting (about every 60 days), and some ABS activations occurred on rainy days as a result of those. BARF taught me to dissect those events to develop ways to stop them from happening. I admit for a while I despaired of being able to do so, until I did one simple thing.

We are taught to read traffic 10-12 seconds in advance at the BRC. But you can't always see that far ahead if the freeway is going up a hill, or around a curves. And it isn't enough to know what is happening that far ahead, you have to have strategies that utilize that knowledge to reduce risk.

The simple idea is this:

- I brake the moment I see brake lights in front of me. Either the car in front, or several cars ahead if I can see that far.
- And I initially brake to maintain following distance, I don't allow a speed delta to build up between the car in front and me, this is the key idea that has all but eliminated panic stops for me.
- the goal is to brake sooner, and therefore gentler, avoiding loss of control issues and avoiding getting rear-ended since gentler braking gives them more time to react to you slowing down.
- it also gives me more time to react to whatever is going on, my habits get me on the brake immediately, and I have more time to think about what I am going to do next.
- closing the following gap while braking can also work to reduce braking force, this is a semi-emergency technique for me, meaning the guy in front had to brake pretty hard for this to happen, and I tend to go into a split if I get pushed this far. And I view it as a failure to either read traffic adequately or maintain proper following distance.

Two more things I do:
- I guess we all do it, but I cover the brake and the clutch so I can begin braking faster, this enhances the whole brake sooner and gentler thing.
- I also apply the light-triangle idea to my brake lights, I have two mounted on the top case, when I apply the lever, those behind me know it, especially at night, since I cannot be mistaken for a single brake light on a car and get creamed.

That's it, way too much verbiage for a simple concept, but it transfomed my riding.

The only downside is I have to deliberately practice hard braking now since I don't do much of it on my rides any more.

 

[motomania2007]

You have some good points that I think can be summed up with improved vision practice of wider view and looking further ahead gives you more clues about what is happening many cars ahead while also seeing what is going on with the cars immediately ahead of you.

This broader and longer view reduces the chances of being surprised by something and allows you more time to plan and evade what is happening and allowing you to have less stress and less anxiety and smoother control inputs.

 

[zelig]

This is a most excellent reminder. Sometimes I spend too much brain power scanning ahead and have been surprised by the car that's right in front of me pulling some boneheaded move that wasn't warranted by what's in front of them.

To put it in more gruesome terms, it's like not seeing the impact point for the debris field.

 

[ZCrow]

I agree with @motomania2007, long term extending your vision further down the road rather than fixating on the car or two ahead of you will pay off more. I honestly can't remember the last time I had to panic brake.

Also, braking is overrated. There are many scenarios where braking with or without ABS will not be enough. Make sure you understand how to counter steer for emergency lane changes, etc. Sometimes a quick emergency counter steer around danger will be better than slowing and making contact.

Lastly, keep your lane position so that you have an exit path. I generally like to be to the far left when in the fast lane so I can use the shoulder if necessary to escape and have maximum distance between myself and other vehicles, but the same applies to riding on the right side.

 

[BeksNY]

I hear what OP is saying, but have observed that Bay Area drivers do a lot of brake-tapping or riding their brakes, so the brake lights are on, but the drivers are not actually slowing down.

What I suggest is reacting to changes in the distance between you and the cars in front of you, rather than reacting to brake lights. This will let you use your throttle to finesse your speed more and brake less. Over time, it will help with brake and tire longevity. You'll also develop longer sightlines as you look at more of the traffic pattern unfolding before you, which will help avoid future panic moments.

:ride

 

[kurth83]

You guys bring up a lot of great points.

A single technique does not mean fixating on that one data point and ignoring everything else. If my post made it sound like that then yeah, that's bad, apologies.

I guess my main point was having awareness of traffic slowdowns 12 seconds in advance doesn't help much if you wait until 11 seconds later to actually begin braking.

So the main idea was to encourage braking sooner and more gently, because of the benefits that come with it. And if you have to do panic stops on occasion, then think about modifying your riding strategies to avoid those in the future.

Brake lights in front of you are one of the signals you can use to know when to slow down, I hope it was clear I wasn't advocating relying on that as the sole indicator. Again apologies if it sounded like that.

But BeksNY, I would never use pure engine braking in heavy traffic, if I am slowing down even a wee bit, I want my (3 bright) brake lights on. When braking I generally combine engine braking with the front brake, maybe you do that too and just didn't say.

 

[DataDan]

I'm with Beks on use of throttle for light to moderate deceleration in traffic. I ride and drive in a gear that gives me good speed control with throttle only. Not so low a gear that I'll have to shift up as speed climbs, but not so high that I frequently need to brake. Smoothness is a main objective.

Another consideration in not overusing the brakes is avoiding brake light display for trivial decel. I DON'T want to show brake light for a slight slowdown. As Beks said, some drivers ride their brakes (probably left-footing) even when they aren't slowing. This devalues the information conveyed by brake lights. It annoys me when I'm following someone doing it, and I don't want to do it to the driver behind me.

I also use brake lights as a heads-up signal. If I see something developing a quarter-mile ahead that might soon require action, I'll give a quick double-flash to the driver behind. Again, this conveys information more effectively if I haven't been overusing brake.

To tell you the truth, I'm not nuts about the Total Control instruction on scanning. "The area 10 seconds ahead is your immediate path of travel," they say. I disagree with immediate.

MSF teaches: "Glancing ahead 12 seconds and actively scanning a four-second immediate path of travel will help you identify hazards before they affect your safety margin." You need to know what's 10 or 12 seconds ahead, so you can prepare for it by adjusting speed or trajectory. But you have to deal NOW with what is happening 4 seconds ahead, and it might be something that wasn't happening 6 seconds ago.

Scan the full range OUT TO 12 seconds, but don't overprioritize more distant events.

 

[BeksNY]

I'm with Beks on use of throttle for light to moderate deceleration in traffic. I ride and drive in a gear that gives me good speed control with throttle only. Not so low a gear that I'll have to shift up as speed climbs, but not so high that I frequently need to brake. Smoothness is a main objective.

Another consideration in not overusing the brakes is avoiding brake light display for trivial decel. I DON'T want to show brake light for a slight slowdown. As Beks said, some drivers ride their brakes (probably left-footing) even when they aren't slowing. This devalues the information conveyed by brake lights. It annoys me when I'm following someone doing it, and I don't want to do it to the driver behind me.

I also use brake lights as a heads-up signal. If I see something developing a quarter-mile ahead that might soon require action, I'll give a quick double-flash to the driver behind. Again, this conveys information more effectively if I haven't been overusing brake.

Thanks, DataDan! My thoughts exactly. :thumbup

Side note to Kurth83: the F700GS has a heckuva lot less engine braking power than my R850R and waaaay less than my R1200R did, so it was definitely an adjustment in figuring how to stay smooth in dense traffic when I got it. Just food for thought as you consider how to adapt your braking across different bikes.

 

[NorCal Factory]

In addition, whenever I see a potential for braking I always double check my six o’clock and watch as I apply th brakes to ensure they are as well.
I also move within the lane so my brake light is moving sideways when applied. That makes it far easier to catch attention and for depth perception as well. It also opens up escape routes.
Otherwise your light is just another in a sea of lights - especially in the dark and rain.

Keep the space cushion observation to all sides as well. If the lane next to me is having to slow to a stop I move to the other side of the lane and ensure that I am not in the blind spot of th driver to the side in case someone swerves into to my lane.

While I’m sure most do these things as a habit, sometimes we get daydreaming so it’s good to reinforce the habit.

 

[KazMan]

Great post Kurth83! :thumbup

I'm also in the Beks camp of watching speed of cars as my ultimate indication, or >3 cars brake lights all coming on around the same place is another indicator.

Some other things I do if not splitting, is to ensure I am not behind a truck, bus, vehicle with blacked out rear window/or can't see over/around.

The other is to be aware of why and more importantly where the incident is occurring so I can either create more gap (even turn on hazards if traffic is stopping), make the appropriate lane position.

I know many like to say they dart out to the emergency lanes, but often times, that's also where the cager is going who wasn't paying attention or can't stop. So the emergency lane may be another area with vehicles will be stopped. So I try to be aware of where drivers are being less efficient in traffic and have created gaps because they just can't stay out of the 1-2 lanes while doing 47mph or are on the phone.

Again good stuff there that you have picked up! :thumbup :teeth