What to do if You Ignored the Need for Brake Repair and They Fail While Driving

You knew you needed a brake repair job and yet you chose to put it off, thinking that you had more time to get the work completed. Now you find yourself driving down the road and your brakes have completely failed. What should you do in this situation?

The first thing you should do in this situation is make a conscious effort to not panic. Panicking will only make your decision making more difficult and could cause you more harm than good. Take a deep breath and keep your head clear.

Next, turn of your cruise control and take your foot of the gas. This point goes without saying, but you still need to make a conscious decision and think logically. If your cruise control is left on, your car will continue to accelerate to the speed you previously chose and will make stopping all the more difficult. Also, you may not even realize that your foot is still on the gas, so make sure you think it through.

Now you will want to see if you have any braking power at all. Your brakes may feel squishy or they might feel hard. If they are squishy, try pumping them to build up the pressure. This may allow you to slow the car down and will give you a greater measure of control. If the pedal will not move, check to make sure nothing is blocking it.

If you have enough space and time, try shifting into a lower gear. This causes your engine to slow the vehicle and may provide enough resistance to slow the vehicle tremendously. It is important that you shift gears slowly and that you do not try to shift too low too soon.

While you are working through these steps, turn on your flashers and sound your horn to warn other drivers. If you can minimize damage and protect other drivers and their vehicles, your outcome will likely be a lot better.

If the above steps have not worked, you will need to slow the vehicle by using more drastic measures. Try driving along the shoulder where there is typically gravel or grass. Once you are slow enough, you could sideswipe a guardrail or hedge of bushes. Whatever you do, keep steering and trying to avoid other vehicles.

As a last resort, you can try using a median strip or ditch as a way to stop your vehicle. Carefully guide your car into the grassy area and keep steering until you have stopped. Obviously you will want to avoid trees and poles, but do whatever you can to get your vehicle stopped safely.

It goes without saying that this type of scenario is almost always avoidable. Do not neglect a brake repair job when you are aware that it needs to be completed. Brakes are not self-healing and the problem will only get worse, never better. While paying for brake repair can be expensive, it is not worth your life to put it off.