Driving tests

How and when should you use your handbrake or parking brake?

This brake has different names: handbrake, parking brake, e-brake and emergency brake. From its names, you’d expect some radically different scenarios, but they do hint at its intended use if we go back far enough. It’s often called a handbrake

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What should you do if your brakes fail while you are driving?

Depending on what vehicle you are driving and the type of road you are driving on, you have a number of options if your brakes stop working while you’re driving. They could stop working because of brake fade, you’ve driven

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Brake warning lights explained

If there’s a problem with your brakes you’ll see a warning light on your dashboard, but there are different warning lights for different problems and different brakes. When you turn on the car’s ignition the computer will go through a

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Brake testing: what is it?

Brake testing or brake checking is a phrase often heard in motorsport, but can be applied to the road, too. A brake test is when a driver ahead of you deliberately and unnecessarily brakes hard in order to force you to take

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Braking on a motorbike

The majority of the braking power is via your front wheel – around 75-90%, depending on the road surface, your position when riding, how your bike is set up, and whether you are carrying a load such as a pillion

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How to calculate braking distances

The braking distance, also called the stopping distance, is the distance a vehicle covers from the time of the full application of its brakes until it has stopped moving. This is often given as a 100-0kph distance, e.g. 56.2m, and

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