I am reminded of something I saw perhaps 40 years ago- on 60 Minutes or in Popular Mechanics?- that tested drivers' reactions to a tethered barrel being shot out from roadside directly into their paths. Most drivers slammed on the brakes... and every single one of them hit the barrel. Some drivers swerved... and many of them did NOT hit the barrel.
I'm glad I saw that when I was young; it saved my bacon on at least one occasion, when a horse and young rider (the horse was the one in control
) blasted up onto the road right in front of me in a VW Microbus. I was hard on the brakes AND swerved, somehow avoiding a collision and leaving lots of my nice expensive tires on the road.
An observer to the whole thing said that was some mighty fine driving. I credit that Driver's Study with planting the seed in my head for always having a contingency plan.
I think if you drive with a foot hovering above the brake pedal, you are just going to slam on the brakes in the same way as when you are wielding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.