Have you ever experienced any brake failure when you are driving your car? It can be completely terrifying. What matters the most during that situation is to bring your car to a quick and efficient stop.

There are two main ways to prevent brake failure, and they’re fairly simple (and affordable).

Pay attention to how the car is behaving when you apply brakes. Does it seems non-responsive when you press them? You get a reaction out of the vehicle anyway – if you need an out of the ordinary press to halt your vehicle, it seems your vehicle needs a check.

Get routine auto service. It’s important to change out your brake pads when the time calls for it, check brake fluid, inspect rotors, and make sure the entire braking system is in excellent shape. When you slack on car care, your performance will suffer accordingly… and potentially lead to brake failure.

Managing the brake failure

So what you do if you caught up in this type of situation? Here are some tips on how to react if you face someday the situation like this.

Use the car horn:

Once you realized that your car brakes have failed, use immediately the horn to alert other motorists that you are headed in their direction and you are not able to slow the car. This will help them get out of the way and reduce your chances of a collision.

Downshift.

In a manual car, you can achieve this by using the stick. In an automatic, taking your foot off the gas will ease the RPMs and your car should automatically shift to a lower gear. Either way, it helps slow your vehicle down.

Try pumping the brakes.

Pump the brakes hard 4 to 5 times, by doing so it may switch your brakes into action (if you don’t have an ABS system in your vehicle).

Use your handbrake but BE CAREFUL.

If the car is at high speed, do not apply the hand brakes suddenly, it may cause you to skid. Slow the speed, gently pull it and slow down the car

Pull off to the side of the road

Pull off to the side of the road: to get out of the way of other motorists and bring your car to a complete stop. DO NOT try to drive it again – get the towing service help from your roadside assistance provider, they tow your car to an authorized service to get the repair done.

And remember, if you’re experiencing brake failure you should never:

Turn your car off – this will get rid of power steering and increase the hazard in your situation.

Shift to neutral – this will keep your car from downshifting and slowing. You’ll keep coasting at a high speed.

You can rely on the services of AAA Roadside Assistance Policy for the vehicle to get towed. Apart from other services, the service includes the fuel filling, lockout service, mechanical first aid, and the battery charge service.

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