Brake Rotor FAIL

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: JOD
I don't know much about accident data, but I guess the question becomes one of "is the number of accidents caused by improperly maintained vehicles worth the hassle of requiring inspections?".


Never. To me, the question is: "do negligent drivers need to be punished more severely, regardless of cause?"

If someone proves to be negligent in terms of keeping their vehicle roadworthy, then that person should probably be required to pay for annual inspections when and if they are allowed to drive again.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: rpn453
Originally Posted By: JOD
I don't know much about accident data, but I guess the question becomes one of "is the number of accidents caused by improperly maintained vehicles worth the hassle of requiring inspections?".


Never. To me, the question is: "do negligent drivers need to be punished more severely, regardless of cause?"

If someone proves to be negligent in terms of keeping their vehicle roadworthy, then that person should probably be required to pay for annual inspections when and if they are allowed to drive again.


Well, I'm not prepared to say "never" until I understand how many accidents are caused by lack of maintenance. I mean, we could apply the same standard to drunken driving; let people drive with alcohol in their system, and punish them if they cause an accident. Of course, we don't do that since we know that alcohol consumption causes a lot of accidents.

Thing is, I really haven't seen any hard data on vehicle maintenance/accidents. And it's probably hard data to parse. I imagine places with more drivers are more likely to have more inspections, along with a ton of other variables.

My gut tells me that there are much bigger issues though, like cell phones and uncovered loads. And yeah, I do agree with your theory of holding those accountable who are driving unsafe rigs. But it's also good to prevent those accidents before they happen.

 

[Stewart Fan]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Ive seen pics of front brakes that are worn through to the vents. You would think that would be noticeable by the vibration.


I've seen that first hand. I worked at a Sears automotive in the early '90s while in high school.

A lady came in and said she had a vibration when she stepped on the brakes. We put the car on a lift and pulled off the front tires. Sure enough,the rotor was worn through to the vents.

 

[cbear]

And here I thought my wife got all the life she could out of her rotors.

 

[Gearhead]

What's holding the outer ring to the brake pad, the piston?

Either way, and pity the people who could have been affected. The negligence is criminal.

 

[occupant]

When I had my Aerostar, I heard some metal on metal for about a week's worth of courier driving (about 1200 miles) before I got the chance to take it apart on the weekend. I took the driver side apart and it was pretty decent, pad was almost to the rivets, rotors were scored but not deeply. So I knew the passenger side would be a mess. Sure enough, I got the right front wheel off, and the rotor was about as thick as a credit card on one side. I stood up to go show my wife and it slipped out of my hands and shattered like a china plate.

Of course I replaced both rotors, all pads, both caliper piston seals, used plenty of grease, put the anti-rattle clips on, all that. Didn't need to bleed the system, it seated pretty good idling around the parking lot of the apartments with my hand at the ready on the parking brake handle. Did have to top off the fluid a wee bit but nothing horrible. Had I kept the van long enough to need pads again, was going to have the brake system flushed. But I sold it before it got to that point.

 

[artificialist]

In Florida the are no car inspections. Around 15 years ago, cars were smog tested only, but the state got rid of that because the majority of cars that failed smog were junk cars that the owner could not afford to fix.

I'd like to see safety inspections here, there are far to many dangerous cars that need to be taken off the road.