Mental Awareness and Braking

How often do riders get lost in the scenery or music playing? It’s not hard when you’re riding somewhere new or your favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd song is blasting from your speakers. Isn’t part of the fun being lost in the moment or making memories while out on the ride? I think we can all say we’ve been guilty of it a few times. Let’s talk about focusing and how it impacts braking while out riding.

Braking consists of three separate parts: Perception, Reaction, and Braking Distance

Perception can be defined as the time it takes for your brain to process a potential hazard. This time frame varies greatly for individuals. It can take anywhere from 0.75 seconds to 1.5 seconds for your brain to process potential hazards. Reaction can be defined as the time from when your brain perceives a hazard to the time you apply the brakes. Braking distance is the distance it takes to stop once the brakes are applied.

Do you know how many feet per second you’re covering at a speed of 55 miles per hour? Eighty feet per second would be the correct answer. Let’s put this whole perception, reaction, and braking thing in to perspective. Say you’re out cruising along on a nice, sunny day at 55 mph. There’s a delivery truck that pulls out in front of you because he didn’t see you coming. If average perception is 1 second, you’ve covered 80 feet before your brain processes the truck pulling out in front of you and the need to brake! More time passes as your brain sends a signal to your limbs to apply the brakes. More time = more feet per second! Now you have the distance you’re going to travel as you brake to a stop. All of this adds up to a long braking distance!

Imagine if you were distracted while riding. You’d have to add that time and distance to the whole scenario above and at that rate, you might end up on the delivery truck! It’s important to be cognizant of everything happening around you so that you can eliminate as much time and distance as you can when it comes to braking or reacting to any hazard out on the road.

Joni Ewing
Safety Officer
Cajun HOG Chapter 331681