Gears, brakes and maneuvering

Facts and regulations regarding brakes

• The service brake, also known as foot brake is applied by pressing down the paddle with the foot and is the primary braking system of the vehicle. When you press down the pedal, the force on the pedal is transmitted to the brakes on the wheels with aid of braking fluid. When the service brake is broken, there is no force transmission and therefore the vehicle stays in motion. Therefore, it's not allowed to drive a vehicle with broken service brakes because it is very dangerous for the driver as well as for other road users.
• The parking brake (also called hand brake) is a separate system and usually operates on the rear wheels of the car. It´s important to use the parking brake with low gear to avoid binding that can occur if the parking brake is never or rarely used. In damp and humid conditions, however, it´s advisable not to apply the parking brake as there is a risk of it freezing up.
• The braking fluid aids the braking system by transfering the braking force and is very often yellow. Braking fluid absorbs moisture which lowers the boiling point of the braking fluid, this increases the risk of braking failure. Therefore, it´s important to check the braking fluid regularly and change it every other year to keep it in good condition.
• Trailers with a kerb weight exceeding 400 kg must have a parking brake. Trailers with a total weight exceeding 750 kg must also have a service brake. You should check the brakes at regular intervals so that you know whether or not the brakes are working effectively.
• Disk braking and drum braking are usually found in private cars. Disk brakes on front wheels and drum brakes on rear wheels is the usual combination for private cars. Spring brakes, however, can be found in the rear axle of heavy trucks and are usually used as parking brakes, these are not common in cars.
• Anti-skid system is an electronic stability technology that senses skidding and immediately adjusts the course of the vehicle by braking one or more wheels of the vehicle. It is an important system in preventing accidents and most new cars are fitted with this system. An anti-skid system can have different names and therefore different abbreviations such as ESC, DSTC or, as in this example (image 1), ESP.

Image 1: Anti-skidd system ESP

Braking

• Engine braking means that you quickly lower the speed of the car by shifting to a lower gear, keeping the rpm at at least 1,500 rpm and letting the accelerator up entirely, instead of using the brakes.
• The jackknife effect occurs when the brakes on a car, that is towing a trailer, are more effective than the trailers brakes. Under slippery road conditions, this can cause the car and the trailer to fold up like a jackknife and are very likely to become uncontrollable. This jackknife effect is more prominently seen on the slippery or icy roads.
• It´s important to check the condition of your brakes regularly. The best way to check your car brakes is to press down the pedal as hard as you can when the car is standing still. The braking system should be able to handle the pressure to prove itself effective. If the brakes would break down, it´s better that they do during the checking instead of while driving.

Braking systems

• A dual-circuit braking system is a braking system that has two different circuits that are connected to different wheels. Therefore, if there is a leak or any other fault in one circuit and the brakes connected to that circuit stop working, the brakes on the others wheels are still connected through the other circuit, so that at least those brakes are still working.
• Many cars have ABS (anti-lock braking system), also called 'non-locking brakes'. Advantages of this system are: 1) They minimise the risk of skidding when you brake 2) Steering works even in cases of very harsh braking 3) Braking distance is shortened under most road conditions except perhaps icy roads, in which case the braking distance may be slightly longer.
• In the hydraulic braking system the braking force is transfered by brake fluid. It´s important to check the braking fluid levels regularly, it should reach the 'max' line indicated on the resevoir. The wrong level of braking fluid can be caused due to leakage or worn-out brake pads. It´s important to change the braking fluid every other year to keep running the hydraulic braking system running effectively.

Steering

• This road sign (image 2) you can come across for instance when there is a gravel road next to an asphalt road. If you would end up with the right side of your car on the gravel road, and the edge of the asphalt road is quite high, then it´s important to keep calm and take actions wisely rather than hastily hitting the brakes. The most logical and effective method would be to reduce the speed and redirect your driving course by steering the car carefully with a firm grip on the steering wheel onto the asphalt road.

Image 2: Warning for a soft edge or a high edge of the road

• While making a turn, the rear wheels of the car point in the direction you're traveling. If the car keeps moving in one direction for some time the car can spin hard and fast. The action of turning a vehicle too much into one direction that may result in spinning is known as oversteering (image 3).

Image 3: Oversteering

• When you turn the steering wheel of the car in a curve and you notice that your car isn't really responding to you turning the wheels, you might turn the wheels even more. But if the car wasn't really responding appropriately from the beginning due to insuffienct friction, then the car is likely to travel straight forward, instead of following the curve as you intented by steering. This phenomenon is called understeering (image 4).

Image 4: Understeering

Maneuvering

• When manouvering, the blind spot makes it hard to see a certain angle behind you. This illustration (image 5) shows that you can see traffic behind you (spot C) by using the rear mirror. And the side mirrors make it easier to spot traffic at spot B. But traffic at spot A is not covered by the rear-view mirror nor the side mirror, therefore it´s called the blind spot of the vehicle.

Image 5: Blind spot

• When you reach a junction where you shall give way and you like to drive for instance straight, then you should first look left, then right, and then again left before driving out onto the road. This is recommended because traffic nearest to you is traffic that comes from the left, it´s therefore important to check left again just before continuing driving.

Gears

• A regular manual gear knob has 6 settings; a 1 to 5-speed setting (nowadays 6 speeds are however becoming more regular) and a reverse function. The letter ‘R’ on a gear nob signifies the reverse function and is normally located at the bottom on the right side of the knob.
• The act of disengaging the clutch to break the connection between the driving shaft and the engine is known as declutching, which occurs when you press down the clutch with your foot.
• If you encounter this sign combination (image 6) when driving downhill, it´s important not to lose grip of the vehicle. Driving at the highest gear possible at that speed gives the least amount of torque with a lowered risk of wheelspin.

Image 6: Warning for undercooled road section