How to Handle Brake Failure? Like a Boss

If you are particular about your vehicle and its components, brake automatically tends to draw the most attention. The proper functioning of brakes is something which can never be under looked. Failure of brakes is something which people always consider as a nightmare. It is pretty obvious too, after all, nobody would like to expect the failure of brakes when one is enjoying a pleasant ride in one’s vehicle. Brake failure at first can prove to be the worst mishap that can happen to your vehicle.

However, you would be relieved to know that failure of brakes does not happen very often. Brakes tend to have a limited amount of lifespan and they fail when they are worn out. But unfortunately, the problem of failure of brakes occurs and in such cases, the one thing you should avoid doing is panic. If you start panicking while handling brake failure, you may seriously worsen the situation. Therefore, to be calm in the first place is the primary step to deal with a brake failure. Now let’s have a detailed look at what all things you should consider while tackling the problem of brake failure and that too like a boss.

What kind of brakes does your vehicle have?

The first thing about which you should be informed about is the types of brakes that your vehicle is having. They could be either regular brakes or anti-lock brakes. When you start up your car and the logo on it lights up indicating ABS, it means your vehicle has anti-lock brakes. If this is not the case, then you can conclude that your vehicle is having regular brakes. 

Steps to be followed during brake failure

Now let’s come to the main point of our discussion. What is the thing that you need to do when the brakes of your vehicle fail off?

1. The first thing you should be doing in such a case is to downshift the gear of your vehicle making your vehicle move at the speed of the lower gear. 
2. If you have regular brakes, the next step involves pumping the brake pedal fast. It helps in building up brake fluid pressure quickly. Now you might be faced with a situation in which your brakes might stop working even after you pump their pedal many times. Such a kind of situation can be worrisome. In such cases, the only option left for you is to pull up the parking brake which is also referred to as the handbrake and is located beside the driver’s seat. If you are pulling out the parking brake or handbrake of your car, you should be prepared that your vehicle will drift a bit. 
3. The worst situation occurs when even the handbrake or parking brakes of your vehicle become dysfunctional. In such a case, you should choose to reduce the vehicle’s speed by lowering the gear to the least and then steering the vehicle in a safer direction. Gradually, this may lead your car to come to a stop. 
4. While steering your vehicle to a safer location, you should make sure that you do not oversteer the vehicle. You must steer it as much as needed by the vehicle to avoid collision with obstacles. 
5. If your vehicle is at a high speed, you should even think about scrapping your vehicle against the guard rail or divider. This helps your vehicle in generating the necessary friction required to slow down the speed of your vehicle. While doing this, you must ensure that you rub the car against a divider or a guard rail at a narrower angle. 
6. You must also make sure that you properly warn other drivers on the road about your brake failure by honking the horns and flashing the lights of your vehicle.

If your vehicle is having anti-lock brakes, then you need to go with a slightly different approach. You should be practicing sudden stops of your vehicle on both dry as well as wet pavements. You should make sure that you do this kind of practice in safer and off-street situations. There is a basic rule which is followed in the case of vehicles having anti-lock brakes. If your vehicle is having anti-lock brakes you should press the brake pedal of your vehicle fully. If you feel a strong vibration in your foot coming from the pedal, it is a clear indication that your ABS is performing well.

One more step which should be followed when you, unfortunately, experience failure of brakes is that when you are steering the vehicle to a safer direction and are sure that you will not need to change the direction of your vehicle further, you should turn off the ignition. This would gradually slow down your vehicle and will bring it to a stop.

Bottom Line

The steps mentioned by us can prove to be a savior for you in the case of brake failure. If you have any further queries, do let us know about them in the comments section. We will make sure that we come up with solutions. Also, give us honest feedback on this article. Your feedback is highly appreciated. Thanks for reading.