Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Article: High IQ = Different Sensory Perceptions

I enjoy driving and I am usually faster off the light, but I've always just figured it was my competitive nature. Lol!

Quick thinking though, I was once in an odd accident when a drunk homeless man decided to jaywalk across 4 lanes of traffic. I didn't see him traipsing across the street because I was 2 lanes over and he was coming up on the passenger side behind that pesky bar between the windshield and the window. At the last moment, I finally saw him (he wasn't going to stop) and I slammed on the brakes. I knew I wasn't stopping fast enough, so I pulled the emergency brake to stop faster. I stopped inches from him. I looked in the rear-view mirror just in time to see the car that rear-ended me. The homeless man still got clipped from my car being thrust forward by the impact. He was knocked down from the impact, denting my fender, but he got up and quickly walked away. He didn't stay for any medical treatment. He wouldn't have been able to walk away if I hadn't pulled that emergency brake. The accident totaled the car that hit me. My husband was with me and he was dumbfounded that I had the wherewithal to pull the brake.

Not sure if that is processing speed or perception, but I'm glad I had it that morning!

I don't want to be a downer, but unless you're on snow or sand, pulling the emergency brake is more likely to increase braking distance rather than shorten it. The point of anti-lock braking systems is to prevent drivers from applying the brakes so strongly that the wheels lock up.

The coefficient of static friction that your rolling wheels have with the road is much higher than the coefficient of kinetic friction that your sliding wheels have with the road. If you pull the e-brake and induce a slide in your rear wheels, you've almost certainly increased your braking distance.

Fortunately, you haven't increased it much, because braking causes a weight transfer forward to the front wheels. Under heavy braking, the rear wheels are unloaded, and don't contribute much to stopping the car anyway. Preventing them from locking up does contribute to stability though, and with modern-day anti-lock braking systems that can brake each wheel individually, a high level of control is maintained even under panic braking. With the brake pedal fully depressed, the car should still be steerable.

Thanks for the explanation, but in the moment the parking brake did actually seem to help. I was nearly stopped, so the lockup of the tires gripped instead of just sliding. Fortunate timing as I understand what you are saying about the anti-lock being a quicker stop in most cases. This little extra brake action did seem to stop the car faster this time though. What I think it did more effectively was to stop my car from hitting him harder upon impact from behind. At least I think the emergency brake would help a little in that situation too, but maybe not.