swill453 wrote:Watis wrote:
As a cyclist - and then a motorcyclist - back in the day, I was taught to apply the rear brake before the front brake for improved stability.
Me too, but I was also told never to use the handbrake as an "emergency" brake in a car as it may cause loss of control.
Scott.
Your instructor's definition of "emergency" differs from mine.
I lost brakes on a hire car on Mount Teide in Tenerife a few years ago (a leaking hose meant the spongy pedal became no pedal once the reservoir was empty, and the low level light didn't come on as they'd bodged the float sensor. The police were unamused but uninterested). It was an auto, I put it into as low a gear as it would go, gradually applied the handbrake, and as we reached a very convenient gravelly layby went in with half a turn of steering lock and a full handbrake and stopped Dukes of Hazzard style.