Fellow drivers, next time you overtake carelessly on the highway and expect an oncoming truck will brake in time for you to get back in your lane, let me explain to you what happens.
When you step on the brakes of your 400kg Toyota Axio, force input from the brake pedal is directed to a vacuum brake booster that amplifies the footpedal force tenfold, directing the amplified force into a brake master cylinder, which pushes a piston that pushes an incompressible fluid (brake fluid) into the 4 brake pipes that in turn pushes the 4 slave cylinders, which in turn pushes the pads/ linings against the hub disc/ drum, effectively stopping the tyres. All this happens in less than a millisecond, with Japanese perfection, your Axio can go from 120 to 20 in 6 seconds flat.
Now, consider a chinese made overloaded mguu kumi tipping truck. Gross weight imepima 37 tonnes. Engine has an attached compressor that pumps in dried air into reservoir tanks. To stop the truck, the driver steps on the brake pedal or puts the parking brake in the on position. This pushes compressed air from the reservoirs into the brake booster, which pushes the pushrod that turns the S-Cam that in turn pushes the lining outward, pushing against the brake drum, stopping the tyre. The air brake system from compressor-reservoir-booster is controlled by a series of valves and chances of failure are moderately high. Most engine brakes fail within the first year of operation of the truck, and even if they are functional, their application is tedious and cumbersome and can’t bring the truck to a complete stop. And if indeed the brakes do work and they stop the tyres, the truck will still need about 100 metres to come to a skid stop, factor momentum: - (37,000 kgs going at 60 km/hr is relatively high momentum to stop with 10 tyres)
So, next time the highway, make good your calculations. Don’t overtake carelessly factoring that trucks have tiptop brakes,
Too much Math, basically what I do is Move as if overtaking (peeping), do some quick math…(nikishift 1 gear down, then kanyaga hii mafuta yote will I have enough steam to overtake, slip back into my lane and avoid being rear ended?) if Yes…What the heck! if No, I draft the car ahead then ka mwanya kakitokea, slingshot! mimi huyoooooo…
akiweka full beam pia mimi naweka! then I dial them and aim straight for his eyes and fry his corneas…but thos I hate are the fools you frind at 7 - 7.30 pm hi stretch ya Kimende driving without lights…as if you burn more fuel with them on…
the danger on our roads are the many novice drivers with 1000cc/1500cc cars thinking they are formula 1 drivers,always in a hurry overtaking dangerously. For those of us experienced drivers with 550 plus Horse power 4L v8 machines with 0- 100km/hr at sub 4 seconds, overtaking is a piece of cake
Night travel ni umeffi, ushawahi enda kuovertake and then uone brake lights on the opposite lane and so in your mind u think its someone else overtaking na kumbe ni ng’ombe iko na demon eye headlights inakam headon …
Leo nimeovertake a Noah and just as I was beginning to go back to my lane coz there was an oncoming vehicle the Noah guy speeds up halafu nasikia akihoot kunizuia.Kuangalia poa ni a lady driver.Ilibidi yeye atoke nje ya barabara
Kuna nyang’au ishawai nifanyia hivo…I had those fake pistols za Sega Mega (usiulize maswali, game ilikuwa inatoka kwa fundi), nikapoint thru the window…the fool drove into a ditch pale Mutindwa!
