not many riders or drivers know how to maximise the performance of their vehicle, be that going around the bendy bits or bringing things to a stop.
So leaving aside what a particular vehicle is theoretically capable of, lets consider what is likely to happen. As a rule drivers and riders do not allow sufficient following distance between themselves and any vehicles in front of them. As a rule, drivers and riders do not observe what is happening sufficiently far ahead of themselves to be able to respond to significant changes in speed or position in a smooth and controlled manner. To illustrate what I am suggesting, think of any rush hour traffic scenario you have been in, how often have you seen a driver or rider having to suddenly jump on the picks because "the dickhead in front just stopped without any warning" and for their own part they come to a stop mere millimetres from the bumper of the vehicle in front? In most cases there has been the combination of too short a following distance and not enough forward observation. i.e. the scenario need not happen.
So if this is going to happen in front of you, why not behind you? Your BHS instructor may well have been talking about the scenario where a rider does not pay enough attention to what is happening behind them. Its not a dumb assumption to work on the premise that the cager behind you will not be at a safe following distance and will not be observing what is going on more than 3 seconds ahead of them on the road, perhaps even as little as 1.5seconds. So if you "suddenly" come to a stop, they are not prepared to do so and drive up your arse. How to fix? If by your own constant observation traffic behind you is not maintaining a decent following distance and not looking ahead then you increase your own following distance so you can brake more slowly in the event of having to. Also by keeping the limits of your own forward observation well ahead (say 16 seconds) your own actions in response to that information will not be so "sudden" to following traffic.
Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but how many times you have your breath taken away
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