I drive in city traffic daily, and I find that at least once per day, I have to brake sharply from traffic speed to a dead stop. If someone is about to hit me, should I release the brakes to lessen the impact, potentially pushing me into the car in front of me, or should I hold the brakes and take the full impact on my rear bumper? Dwayne RAY: If you’re in city traffic and someone is about to hit you from behind, I think you’re better off keeping your foot on the brake. TOM: Rear-end damage tends to be a lot less expensive than front-end damage. There’s simply more stuff in the front end. And it’s pricier stuff. In the back, there’s … well, the trunk. RAY: And if you take your foot off the brake, you’ll be sacrificing the car of the guy in front of you and potentially injuring someone who isn’t braced for impact. TOM: And finally (and this is just my opinion), I think you’re less likely to get hurt if you take one hit rather than two. If someone hits you from behind, and you’re braced for it — pushing on the brake, pushing yourself into the driver’s seat and your head into the headrest — you’ll take one shot, but the seat and headrest will help brace you. RAY: Whereas if the brake is off, you’ll take more whiplash as your car shoots forward, and then reverse-whiplash when your car hits the car in front of you. So that’s two chances to get hurt. King Features Syndicate
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