Faulty Car's Brake

My car is mechanic and I have two brakes: a pedal one to drive and a hand brake. If the pedal one has a big problem you can always help yourself with the hand brake although you will probably destroy it in part. But you will avoin an accident.

It can be a very scary experience and, as you say, doesn't happen very often at all. Knowing what to do in an emergency is all part of safe driving, however. 1) DON'T PANIC! (This is hard, of course, but knowing the proper procedure beforehand helps) 2) Shift into a lower gear, taking your foot off the gas, but DON'T turn the engine off. If you turn the engine off, you will lose the power steering. Try to shift down through the gears. Going straight into the lowest gear could cause a skid. 3) Use the hand brake/parking brake. This will not be as effective as full braking, since it only acts on the rear wheel. 4) Turn on your hazard lights to warn other users that you have a problem 5) If it is safe to use the side of the road, loose earth or gravel or SMALL bushes/scrub will slow you. Any trees or saplings with trunks larger than 4 inches are likely to do more damage than it's worth. Uneven ground and hidden dips or gullies can easily flip the car, too, so be sure that you can see that it's clear. 6) If there is a guard rail at the side of the road, use it to slow your vehicle down. Keep the car as parallel to the rail as possible so that you graze it rather than bouncing off. 6) If the vehicle in front of you is travelling at nearly the same speed as you, a last resort is to rear-end it. Use your horn to try to warn the diver. Try to hit it squarely in the centre, not with a glancing blow, or both vehicles may lose control.

#1 would be to make sure your car was getting regular maintenance to lessen the risk of part failure..Once in that situation,however,it is an emergency,so slowing down as quickly as possible is a priority. Do NOT turn off the engine...it provides some braking and you would lose any electrical power activated braking assistance.Keep pumping the brake pedal,and shift down to lower gears,and use the parking brake,being aware of the risk of skidding..

My husband and I had a similar incident years ago. We, or rather my husband, had been driving on the freeway when the brakes (or was it the gas pedal?) gave out. We got off the first available exit and somehow made it to a gas station that was there...all without getting into an accident, thank goodness. Needless to say it was a very scary experience. One I never want to go through again!

Don't turn off the engine. You can't engage the engine break. But this is for the stick shift driven cars. I'm not sure if it's applicable to automatic transmission cars. Also, turning the engine would lock your steering wheel and prevent you from maneuvering your car.

Hi! That is really dangerous. You can actually engage a lower gear to slow down your car if you have sufficient time, change the gear to a lower gear from 3 to 2 then 1 and slowly release the clutch and that will make you car jerk and that can actually slow down your car speed. Another option you can use is to use the hand brake. You can use your hand brake to pull and release a few time to slow down your car, do not pull it and try to stop your car immediately or else your car will slide to one side. Anyway, the better option is to always maintain your car in good condition. Make sure every parts of your car are function perfectly.