Depending on the type of vehicle you are driving and the type of road you are driving on, there are a couple of things you can do when your car brakes fail while in motion. First of, as a driver it is important that you know whether or not your car have anti-lock brakes or regular brakes.
If you have an ABS logo that appears whenever you start your car then you have anti-lock brakes, if not, you have regular brakes. If your car have an anti-lock brake system you must practice sudden stops on both dry and wet pavement in a safe off street situation so you know what to do in case of an emergency. How to do this is to press the pedal all the way to the floor till you feel a strong vibration in the pedal which is a sign that the car's ABS is working properly. This will cause the car to slide but don't panic it will definitely bring the car to a safe halt.
SOME REASONS WHY BRAKES FAIL.
1. It may be because of brake fade.
2. Or maybe you’ve driven through water.
3. Or a mechanical issue.
4. Low brake fluids too can cause brake failure. Although warning lights will appear on your dashboard.
Sudden brake failure is highly unlikely. Even if your power assisted brakes fail, you can still apply braking power by pumping the brake pedal.
THINGS TO DO WHEN YOUR CAR BRAKES FAIL.
1. Don't panic, Get off the way of traffic, drive in a lane with less cars.
2. Other road users needs to know what you are doing, so your indication is very important. If you need to move off the road or across lanes, signal others and try to move into a gap. You can use your horns and headlamps too.
3. Pump the brakes, If the pedal goes down to the floor, pump it a few times then hold it down to the floor. There may not be much difference, but anything is better than nothing.Also make sure your foot mat is not in the way of your brake pedal, that could be the cause.
4. Use your gears, Lower gears provide more mechanical resistance (this is called engine braking)But you must be careful not to over-rev the engine. In a car with a manual gearbox this is pretty straight foward, but if your car has an automatic gear system you may have an L setting, or you could have sequential style gears where you can change down with paddles behind the steering wheel, Simply keep changing down a gear every time the revs drop a little below the red line. This will help reduce your speed to 5-10km/h but your car will continue to creep forward.
5. On a road with a hard shoulder, try to get to the hard shoulder as there is less likely to be obstruction in it for you to hit as you slow down.
6. Turn on the air conditioning system and some other accessories, The air conditioner should be turned to the coldest setting with the highest fan speed. This will absorb a substantial amount of kilowatts of power. Turning on all accessories, such as the heated rear window and your car lights, will also help create some drag on the alternator.
7. Use the handbrake, Don’t pull the handbrake on at high speed because you most likely will spin out of control. It could also overheat and become ineffective. Be patient until engine braking has dropped your speed to below 20km/h, then you can apply the handbrake gradually. The handbrake only works on the back wheels and in case they skid you could lose control, so be very careful.
8. Look for up hills and bush paths, if you are not on a flat road you can look for high parts in the surroundings and drive on to bring the car to a final halt.
THINGS YOU MUST NOT DO IF YOUR CAR BRAKE FAILS.
1. Don’t put your car into the reverse gear while you are going forwards because you risk causing a huge damage to your gearbox.
2. Don’t put your gear in neutral because you’ll have no engine braking.
3. Don’t steer from side to side at high speed. Yes, it creates more friction, but at the risk of spinning out of control, and if your brakes have failed, any electronic stability control measure may not work. If you at low speed, you can try it.
4. Don’t turn off the engine because you’ll lose your power steering.
No comments:
Post a Comment