My First Hard Braking Incident

I got 2 in chicago. Noone in front of me lights turned red and id rather break than run a red light. No safety dept called me had they honestly i would have probably been incredibly annoyed.

I wouldn't sweat it, I've been driving for nearly a year and I would have done the same thing if I thought I was seeing reverse lights. But, following distance is important especially in stop n go and there's no need to get in the same impatient hurry as everyone else. Just remember you're being paid not to let those feelings get the best of you, that's something I often think about when I'm stuck in traffic and am frustrated. That being said, try to avoid frequent hard braking incidents. I think most companies look at them on a case by case basis, and I'm sure they have data on what's considered a normal amount/frequency for a safe driver. Hope this helps

Dan

Dan "Breeze" offers his comments:

But, following distance is important especially in stop n go and there's no need to get in the same impatient hurry as everyone else. Just remember you're being paid not to let those feelings get the best of you

Spot on Dan.

Especially poignant when considering Mr. M's potential annoyance, as he wrote in a previous reply:

I got 2 in chicago. Noone in front of me lights turned red and id rather break than run a red light. No safety dept called me had they honestly i would have probably been incredibly annoyed.

Annoyed? Incredibly annoyed?

Mr. M, how long you been driving, 10 years, 1 million miles? C'mon, you are a newbie driver and not above accountability for making mistakes like this. None of us are. How could you be annoyed for safety checking up on you to see if you are ok? They have no way of knowing otherwise. I don't get it,... you are still learning (unless your profile needs updating). Farmer Bob's situation is very different then a hard braking event at a traffic signal, I think he handled it as most of us would. It takes quite a bit of force to set-off the hard braking sensors. Poor timing of stale lights and/or going a bit too fast might be the root cause of your event, possibly too much foot on the brake pedal. Not sure, but one thing I am rather sure of, stop like this in the rain, while dead-heading and it may not be the call from safety that has you "incredibly annoyed".

Try to focus on stale lights, if there is cross traffic waiting on either side of the intersection for the light change, be aware the light may change as you approach it. Drop your speed. Learn to anticipate this, situational awareness, etc. I constantly "city" drive; my rule of thumb is to drive 5 mph under the speed limit and always be prepared to stop. Part of our job is to protect our load. Hard braking events can easily disturb the load inside the box.

Be safe.

I've gotten a couple of them, and they are always at the same place. Port Allen, and Lafayette, LA. the problem is the very uneven cement "pannels" that make up the road way. You try to stop for the light, but as your drives hit the bumps (Bobtailing) it causes the abs to activate.

I haven't been contacted yet, but outside of those areas, I haven't had any others

I had a moron STOP on the right lane of the highway to let a car in that was trying to merge from an onramp. I mean, how stupid can some people be?

I mean, how stupid can some people be?

Sadly, that person thought they were helping.