Saw brake failure recently

[y_p_w]

Going down a hill. Heard a grinding noise, saw the car go by, and finally a crash when a car jumped over a concrete retaining wall. Didn't really see too much of the actual crash and called 911. Then I went out and saw the car with the occupants bruised but otherwise not seriously hurt. They showed signs of seat belt bruises and both airbags deployed. From the sound of it, they were probably going 20 MPH when they finally hit the retaining wall. Looks like the safety systems all did what they were supposed to do. They managed to swerve around almost anything where they would have had a head on into a car or pole.

Apparently the brakes gave out even when the driver tried pumping it. The grinding noise was pulling on the parking brake. I went out and the driver also said she put it in park.

Not quite sure what the issue was, but I'm guessing vapor lock. I would have thought it was less of an issue with diagonal brake lines. Could have been something like a failure with the pedal.

However, I would have thought the best course of action would have to put it in as low a gear as possible. I drove down the same hill in 1st without brakes, and I don't think I was going faster than 10 MPH unless I hit the accelerator. However, a lot of 4-sp autos can't be selected for anything lower than 2nd. I was thinking of driving up/down Pikes Peak once, and the requirement was for a vehicle that can select 1st.

 

[JHZR2]

Scary!

I agree that first with the parking brake would be a desirable setup, but even then it is terrain dependent.

Once a wheel cylinder failed on a car my parents had. It would drip brake fluid each braking event. Not much, but some would dribble out. They caught it when it was dribbling on the tire, and fixed it immediately. But certainly they could have been on a long voyage or doing a lot of night driving and missed it, and then ran out of fluid, I suppose...

 

[eljefino]

I siezed a caliper without causing much drag that I could feel and had zilch for pedal due to the boiling. Faith in 2-channel braking is mostly held by those who have never actually tried to use it.

Also lost a brake line right in my own driveway. The mind tends to think irrationally in such situations. We trust that the sun will come up and the brakes will at least sort of work; when the pedal turns into a dead fish, all bets are off.

 

[Rand]

I thought this was about a chainsaw.

Saw brake failed.

 

[zach1900]

+1 lol

 

[901Memphis]

Your average citizens might not have the best reaction to a scary situation like that and unfortunately we don't know how we'd react either but my first thought would be lower gear possible if moving in an automatic

 

[cjcride]

I heard years ago that if the parking brake and downshifting is not enough then pop it in and out of reverse.

 

[alcyon]

usually if the brake fluid is leaking, your parking brake indicator will light up even though the brake lever is down. That is a sure warning that its leaking somewhere.

 

[901Memphis]

Originally Posted By: cjcride
I heard years ago that if the parking brake and downshifting is not enough then pop it in and out of reverse.


Your electronically controlled transmissions will not shift into reverse or Park while moving they will just make an annoying noise like plastic clicking if shifted to park while moving and be placed in neutral

 

[y_p_w]

When I heard the noise and looked out, it didn't really look like it was going that fast. If it had just coasted from about where I think it started, it probably would have hit 50 MPH and no amount of airbags would have helped. I think yanking on the parking brake helped. The clattering sound may have been the car in park, but it was a 20 year old car, so who knows. And they pretty much avoided everything and just managed to jump over a short retaining wall onto a juniper bush (which probably slowed them down). All in all I think that was probably the best outcome they could have hoped for once the brakes were out. Maybe they slow down more if placed in lowest gear, but I don't think the driver could have come to a stop.

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
When I heard the noise and looked out, it didn't really look like it was going that fast. If it had just coasted from about where I think it started, it probably would have hit 50 MPH and no amount of airbags would have helped. I think yanking on the parking brake helped. The clattering sound may have been the car in park, but it was a 20 year old car, so who knows. And they pretty much avoided everything and just managed to jump over a short retaining wall onto a juniper bush (which probably slowed them down). All in all I think that was probably the best outcome they could have hoped for once the brakes were out. Maybe they slow down more if placed in lowest gear, but I don't think the driver could have come to a stop.



I guess people are not taught how to put a car sideways in an emergency?

 

[CT8]

The brakes were probably worn metal to metal until there was a total failure.

 

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted By: expat
I guess people are not taught how to put a car sideways in an emergency?


So they can slide sideways, clip a kerb, cat's eye or bump in the road and roll down the hill sideways? At least rolling forwards you have some semblance of control.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
When I heard the noise and looked out, it didn't really look like it was going that fast. If it had just coasted from about where I think it started, it probably would have hit 50 MPH and no amount of airbags would have helped. I think yanking on the parking brake helped. The clattering sound may have been the car in park, but it was a 20 year old car, so who knows. And they pretty much avoided everything and just managed to jump over a short retaining wall onto a juniper bush (which probably slowed them down). All in all I think that was probably the best outcome they could have hoped for once the brakes were out. Maybe they slow down more if placed in lowest gear, but I don't think the driver could have come to a stop.

I agree. It was probably the best outcome, given the situation the driver didn't panic and tried the best she could.

Remember a police officer and his family killed in San Diego few years ago when their Lexus loaner got uncontrollable gas pedal ? If he shifted to lower gear and/or turned off the engine he and his family may got into an accident but still survive.

 

[Whitewolf]

I've had a couple, it's not funny.