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Question:

Imagine this: You are driving down the road, and suddenly your brakes go out & you cant stop. What do you do?

Imagine this: You are driving down the road, and suddenly your brakes go out & you cant stop. What do you do?

Answer:

I have had my brakes fail in a 105,500 pound semi truck, while going down a very steep hill. There is probably nothing more scary than something of this nature happening to you. In order to stop I ground the right side of my truck against the hill until the truck st oped fortunately there was no traffic around and i didn't to a large amount of damage to the truck. my only advice is to try to remain as calm as possible and look for soft things to hit.
Take your foot off of the accellerator and let the engine drag slow the vehicle as much as possible. Then pull, gently on the hand brake if you have one available, or press on the emergency brake pedal, also gently, at first to bring the car to a safe stop. ALL cars, not just new ones have parking brakes, for, at least, the last fifty years and more. Any responisble car owner should make sure all brake systems are in good repair. Turning off the engine is NOT a good idea, especially as most cars have power assisted steering. Putting the car in neutral would not be an option until the car has slowed down to nearly a stop. A better option would be to gear down, a step at a time, eventually to the lowest gear. Meanwhile, consider that side swiping other vehicles and other obstacles will help slow down your vehicle and is much preferred over hitting something head on. Landscaping features and undergrowth at the side of the road will also help slow the car down.
1- Begin pumping the brake pedal, you may be able to build up enough pressure in the parking system to slow down a bit, or even stop completely. If you have antilock brakes, you do not normally pump them, but if your breaks have failed, this may work. 2- Do not panic, relax and steer the car smoothly, cars will often safely corner at speeds much higher than you realize or are used to driving. The rear of the car may slip, so steer evenly, being careful not to overcorrect, shift the car into a lower gear or the lowest if needed and let the engine and transmission slow you down, however shifting to a certain lower gear depends on your speed, I mean if you are driving fast and shifted the car to the lowest gear, the car may stop stronger than if you are driving at lower speed so be careful. 3- Pull the hand brake, but not too hard. Pulling too hard on the hand brake will cause the rear wheels to lock and then car to spin around. Use even, constant pressure. In most cars, the hand brake (the emergency brake or parking brake) is cable operated and serves as a fail-safe brake that should work even when the rest of the braking system has failed. The car should slow down and, in combination with the lower gear, eventually stop. 4- Blow your horn and flash your lights to get the driver's attention, you don't want to crash into a much slower-moving or stopped vehicle as this is more dangerous than hitting a car with a similar speed, however, you may have no choice, but at least try to hit it square, bumper to bumper, so you don not knock the other vehicle off the road, anyway this is an extremely dangerous maneuver.

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