Re: How can you tell if "the bomb" is bad?

[Alex Kowalski <akowalsk@wppost.depaul.edu>]

The bomb on my car was bad before the accident.  ('86 5KCSTQ).  It
wasn't a factor in my particular situation, but it nearly was a few weeks
before that.  For me, the problem with driving with a bad bomb is that
you lose an extra interval of time in a situation where, for example,
you're modulating the brake lightly but then you have to really haul your
speed down for some unexpected reason.  You lose many feet of
braking action in this situation before your brain adjusts to the much
higher level of pressure needed to slow the car at the rate you
suddenly need.  Some people's reaction times are faster, so it might not
make that much of a difference to them.  

Loss of assist because of the bad bomb happened to me shortly after I
bought my car...Taking an long offramp...left lane, left turn was perfectly
clear all the way to the end of the ramp...right lane, right turn had
several cars stacked up.  I was going left, taking my time slowing down
because I thought I had clear sailing.  Then one guy in the right lane
changes his mind and decides to go left instead, apprarently without
checking his mirrors.  I had to hit the pedal hard and I definitely felt the
pulsing and didn't slow down as fast as I wanted to.  The problem was
that this was the first time I had experienced the loss of brake assist, so
an automatic reaction for ramping up my leg exertion just wasn't there. 
No accident, but it used up a lot more of my margin for error than I felt
comfortable with. 


YMMV

Best Wishes,
Alex