How To Stop A Car With No Brakes ! Might be helpful

[Bikerman 2]

I was just going to reply with the same observations. Short of putting on a blindfold it would be hard to think of worse advice....you also loose any chance of engaging first on most older cars if the engine isn't running - you need to give the throttle a blip to try and match the shaft speeds on the gearbox to the engine revs....

[mandla 0]

hehehe While those observations make sense I beg to differ on the TUrning of the car bit cause I have a Manual Tramsmission car and one day My Brakes failed I literally turned the engine of. put the car in two then let go of the clutch basically what happened was similar to when you push start a car it keeps juddering and chucking you forward but because the key is off the engine turns but doesnt start. so its like crank stop crank stop and those it doesnt stop there and then it manged to some to a halt. Of course theres no point talking bout ABS ceasing when engine if off because in this scenario you have no brakes with the engine on. So that means at this point where we have to do this your breaking system has changed before had to a FBS as in Kufed-up Breaking system. Next point would be the power steering. Yes its harder to turn the car but it does turn. You need to pull really hard. or oyu can turn you engine on and drive till you run out of places to drive and crash into the back of a school bus full of kids why because you couldnt stop the car by doing whats necessary because you didnt wanna loose power steering. P.S ABS and traction control sysms are things that were not there in the past so clearly we have them in cars as safety features but they are mor e of luxury than necessity. Its not like cars without ABS are all gone because they crashed due to lack of the technology no they still exist. So we cansafely manouver a car with out those things though it would be ideal if we never find our selves in the situation.You decide weather a car going downhill running at 30 mph and slowing down with every screech cause its juddering similar to when a learner driver is making the car jump and skid as they take off and the front nose dives and wheels screech (thats exactly what my method whould make the car do even more if you put into 1 but thats hard with newer cars that wont let it go into one over 20miles and hour. Would a car doing this have a high leathality rate compared to one at same speed but accelarating coz of the gradient and the powersteering and DEAD ABS SYSTEM but full traction and airbags and a computer engine. Which one would have a high chance of running over the school kids palying in the park at the bottom of the hill. Obvious the one which will have got to 60miles and hour by the time it got to the hill and cant make the right angle turn to avoid hurling straight into a park full of kids.YOU DECIDEI lived in Zambia for a bit and yes they not as developed as UK but when I was there I ralised that In UK we take safety seriously and all but we not as carefull as people who cannot afford safety. In Zambia some of the cars are Vauxhall Galiants from 1978 and they are fully manual steering, you cant even find spare parts for them. They have no air bags and are jsut simple without even heating and air con not computer to air driving and have the Dual braking system the from wheels do the braking and steering and the back wheel drive the vehicle. Most of these old cares would never pass their MOT or roadworthyness but they are there and its not like you hear stories about people dying from car accident more than in UK No its just the same as witht he ABS /computer stopping robot cars. I once saw a Minibus which had no brakes and would operate by the driver stopping using the handbrake slowly pumping the brakes while pulling the hand brake inch by inch and using lower gears to bring it to a stop. I knwo this was foolish and dangerous but then I didnt realise that everyone in the bus was aware the bus had no brakes for the last two weeks. Now this is not to say i condone such foolishness its just to say you can safetly drive a car that has no todays technology and still be safe. You dont need ABS. Yes ABS is better but you can surely drive without it. just as much cyclists can ride with out helmets it doesnt increase their chances of dying i know cause im still alive and i never used a helmet. Dont say but if a car had hit u because it never did.

Edited October 28, 2010 by mandla (see edit history)

[Harlot 2]

I have to say that these are fantastic tips. I have a car that has bad brakes, and for a while I couldn't find my emergency brakes. I am pretty new to driving and I hope my brakes don't go out because I will be in deep trouble. I try to drive no faster than 30 while on roads with traffic, and no faster than 40 on roads without traffic. Maybe I am just exaggerating a bit, but I heard my breaks kept scrubbing together and making a grinding noise when I stopped, and there is also another ching sound coming from my tires. I found out that the grinding sound was a result of too little break fluid, but it still makes the ching sound, and I hope that I have enough money to get my brakes checked soon so that I can be a safe driver at last. But, in the mean time, I find these tips very helpful, especially the emergency break tip. I would have never thought of using the emergency breaks, and I would have probably turned the car off on the first instinct, which probably wouldn't have been the best thing to do. I would have never thought about putting it in reserve either, and thats probably not a smart idea either. I hope I never experience a break failure though, and if I do experience one, I hope its on a road rather than a freeway where traffic is all over the place.

[NNNOOOOOO 0]

I thought this was going to be a topic about adding a secondary system for when the primary fails. You know, electromagnet stuff.Anyways. I would rather be on the interstate if my brakes fail, so long as it ain't busy. On the side of the left lane, there is usually a big, grassy ditch as a barrier. On the side of the right lane, there is usually a gravel shoulder with a grassy area just to the side of that. If none of those is true, then I may be going over a bridge, or going up hill, or in one of the few areas like that.Also, there may be a guard rail to the side of the shoulder, or even rock cliffs. Scraping the car against those kind of hard creates a lot of friction. I would also put it in neutral, then turn the engine off and put the key back in the "on" position without starting it back. All the cars I've seen so far will let you steer it as long as the key is "on", not "off" or "a(ux?)".

[rvalkass 5]

I would also put it in neutral, then turn the engine off and put the key back in the "on" position without starting it back. All the cars I've seen so far will let you steer it as long as the key is "on", not "off" or "a(ux?)".

Putting the car in neutral means you have no engine braking whatsoever, which short of hitting something is the only method you have of slowing your car down without brakes. First gear provides the highest engine braking, but can be very difficult (and dangerous!) to engage if you're doing 70MPH. Gear down from fifth keeping the revs fairly high, changing down at the earliest opportunity to ensure you're always in the lowest gear possible and therefore maximising your engine braking.

Again, switching the engine off and then switching the electrics back on is dangerous as you lose power steering, ABS, traction control, etc. These are vital emergency driver aids that you should be keeping switched on!

[k_nitin_r 8]

I gave the scenario of no-brakes a thought, and among other unconventional ideas, thought the driver could keep the front windows open while keeping the rear windows closed, creating a kind of a parachute effect to use air resistance to slow down the vehicle. For cars that have doors that open in reverse, opening the doors would have a greater effect, but is quite risky because that reduces the resistance of the vehicle body to crumpling with the removal of the side beams, present in the doors, from the body frame when the door is opened.I have used a combination of engine braking and the gentle use of the hand brake to stop, but with most newer luxury sedans lacking a hand brake but instead using a foot pedal, with one step to set the brake and another step to take off the brake, the driver would have less control of how much braking is applied with the parking brake. In an automatic transmission vehicle with no hand brake, the best bet would be to set the transmission to neutral and have the car slow down sufficiently to be able to safely apply the parking brake. Switching off the engine has no effect when the vehicle is in neutral and the transmission is disengaged from the engine when the engine is turned off so turning off the engine would have no benefit and would instead lead to a loss of power steering. Vehicles without power steering usually do not have automatic transmission either so using engine braking would be the best way to stop.One case in which brakes do stop working is when the vehicle enters a puddle. Some vehicles, by design, have water enter the braking system and prevent the brake pads from gaining enough friction to stop the vehicle within a safe distance. The Suzuki Cultus is one popular vehicle with brakes that are affected by driving in water, despite having been used as a rally car.