does not happen very often. Actually there is one in a million
chance it will happen to you but no harm in being prepared. What
to do if your brakes fail?One point that the rally school
instructor impresses on you is that you must have an escape
route at all times. In case the two cars in front of you collide
and block your way, you must have an escape route. If you don’t,
you could be the third car that contributes to the crash.
The
other day, I went to visit a friend who had been involved in an
accident. "What happened?" I asked. "The brakes
failed!," said the husband, "and my wife was driving.
I told her to leave the road and drive into a tree!" Wrong!
It was a very bad and wrong move. Driving into a tree will stop
you and bring you to a dead halt. Pun not intended. The damage
to the car could be considerable.
If you are on the highway,
other than trees there are bushes and open fields to drive into.
Avoid trees. They will smash the car. Bushes will grab the
wheels and the under-carriage and possibly bring you to a slow
but sure halt. Driving into a field, especially if it has been
ploughed will bring you to a gentle halt, with little or no
damage to the car. These are the escape routes you should be
looking out for.
However, the first move you should make after
your push down on the brake pedal and it sinks to the floor
board and you realise you have no brakes is to change into a
lower gear. From filth gear into fourth and immediately into
third and second gear. Finding first gear may be a little
difficult. All cars these days are quipped with a synchromesh
gear box. They are designed to allow you a quick downshift which
will slow down the car.
At the same time use your hand brake.
Today the same fitment, hand brake, is referred to as an
emergency brake. When your foot brake fails, it is time to pull
up on the emergency brake, gently, very gently. The emergency
brake is connected to the rear wheels and a sharp yank all the
way up will lock the rear wheels. This could de-stabilise the
car and possibly put the car in a spin.
A trick that rally
drivers use is to use the emergency brake to execute quick
turns. They have practiced this manoeuvre and are used to
putting their cars into a spin and doing a 180 degree turn. It’s
a really fun move and you could also learn to do it. But first
learn to use the hand brake (read emergency brake) before
graduating to 180 degree turns.
Practice this on a deserted
read. Slow your car down by using gears and once down to about
30-40 kmph, start pulling up the emergency brake gently. Your
right hand should be on the steering wheel to hold the car in a
straight line, in case the car decides to spin. Surprising, as
it seems, during hand-braking cars do develop a mind of their
own.
Should you be in the city or even on a national highway,
drive your car into the pavement or an empty ground and scrape
the side of the car or the wheels along the pavement. Do not
climb the pavement, simply scrape the car. The maximum damage
will be to your tyres or the lower end of the car. The scraping
action will slow and stop the car without too much damage to you
or the car.
One final word of advice. Do not use a tree to
stop.!
Happy Motoring.
