How to Deal with Brake Failure?
2 Answers
Turn on the hazard lights and try to step on the brake pedal while using the low gear to drag the engine at high RPM for braking, continuously downshifting. If necessary, use roadside guardrails, trees, rocks, or mounds, controlling the contact angle to increase friction and achieve deceleration. Causes of brake failure include: 1. Lack of maintenance in the braking system. For example, excessive impurities in the brake master cylinder, poor sealing, failure of the vacuum booster pump, or dirty brake fluid; 2. Improper operation leading to mechanical failure. For instance, prolonged downhill driving can cause brake pads to overheat, brake drums to carbonize, and the braking function to completely fail; 3. Severe overloading. Under the influence of gravitational acceleration, the vehicle's inertia increases, directly leading to brake failure.
Last time when driving on the highway, the brake warning light suddenly lit up on the dashboard. I immediately did three things: turned on the hazard lights to warn the vehicles behind, quickly and repeatedly pressed the brake pedal deeply with my right foot to try to restore braking power, while stabilizing the steering wheel with my left hand. Remember to reduce the speed below 60 km/h before pulling the handbrake! Never yank the electronic handbrake abruptly at the first moment, as locking the rear wheels can easily cause the car to flip. Once when driving a manual transmission car in this situation, I directly downshifted two gears to let the engine drag and slow down, which was much more effective than just stepping on the brakes. After finally stopping the car in the emergency lane, I found that the brake fluid pipe had ruptured and was leaking. In such cases, never continue driving; calling a tow truck is the safest option.
