Would roads be safer if cars had no brakes?
Discussion
A little tongue-in-cheek but hear me out 
Being able to drive with sparing use the brake pedal is the mark of a good driver because it means you have to anticipate the conditions and to pay attention. Therefore, if all drivers were forced to do this it would - eventually - leave only good drivers on our roads and, given that human error is by far the largest contributor to road casualties, our roads would surely be safer for it!
On my drive home tonight for example, there were very few occasions where I really had to brake, mainly because I was leaving massive gaps due to the fog.
Obviously a few things would have to change; motorsport would be quite different, traffic lights would have to stay amber for longer and the green cross code might need to be taught more thoroughly but let's not get bogged down in logistics.
Now, I'm not a monster. I know there are times when you probably should have brakes so I'm willing to compromise. So instead of removing brakes altogether, we introduce a hefty tax on their useage
Being able to drive with sparing use the brake pedal is the mark of a good driver because it means you have to anticipate the conditions and to pay attention. Therefore, if all drivers were forced to do this it would - eventually - leave only good drivers on our roads and, given that human error is by far the largest contributor to road casualties, our roads would surely be safer for it!
On my drive home tonight for example, there were very few occasions where I really had to brake, mainly because I was leaving massive gaps due to the fog.
Obviously a few things would have to change; motorsport would be quite different, traffic lights would have to stay amber for longer and the green cross code might need to be taught more thoroughly but let's not get bogged down in logistics.
Now, I'm not a monster. I know there are times when you probably should have brakes so I'm willing to compromise. So instead of removing brakes altogether, we introduce a hefty tax on their useage
durbster said:
Therefore, if all drivers were forced to do this it would - eventually - leave only good drivers on our roads and, given that human error is by far the largest contributor to road casualties, our roads would surely be safer for it!
Perhaps they would be safer, after the millions of deaths in the "learning" period.No. No, they wouldn't!
You are presuming brake application can be avoided by anticipation and observation only but if you had to approach every junction, traffic light, zebra crossing, roundabout etc at such a speed that braking was not required, the whole country would soon grind to a halt.
There is also the small matter of the number of children, pedestrians, cyclists and animals who would get squished.
Imagine driving a small car and the articulated lorries around you had no brakes.
Perhaps better driver training and awareness PLUS retaining the ability to brake..?
You are presuming brake application can be avoided by anticipation and observation only but if you had to approach every junction, traffic light, zebra crossing, roundabout etc at such a speed that braking was not required, the whole country would soon grind to a halt.
There is also the small matter of the number of children, pedestrians, cyclists and animals who would get squished.
Imagine driving a small car and the articulated lorries around you had no brakes.
Perhaps better driver training and awareness PLUS retaining the ability to brake..?
Off topic but i wonder if modern performance cars spend a much higher part of their life breaking. I've been driven many miles in the e60 m5 and it was interesting over the 3.2 M engine cars I have driven, but I do wonder whether more acceleration in a car like that just equals more breaking.
Superhoop said:
No, but I can see where you're going with this one.
There is another, more simple way of concentrating the drivers mind though
Replace the drivers airbag with a 6" spike
Until everyone gets complacent because they have not crashed yet (like drivers do now as the chances of being in a smash are low) and then just resume normal service. There is another, more simple way of concentrating the drivers mind though
Replace the drivers airbag with a 6" spike
This is not fair,as I live at the bottom of a hill, I wouldn't have a house left.
It was bad enough when the wife had parked her polo across the drive (as my car was in the drive)a van came hurtling down (with brakes) and smashed into the polo righting it off,huh then the t
t was going to do a runner,but luckly the next door lass took down his number.
It was bad enough when the wife had parked her polo across the drive (as my car was in the drive)a van came hurtling down (with brakes) and smashed into the polo righting it off,huh then the t
t was going to do a runner,but luckly the next door lass took down his number.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff