PHOTOS & VIDEO: A van partially landed in the lake this afternoon after the brakes reportedly failed. The driver said she was driving down Sunset Road when her brakes failed, causing her to drive through the intersection, over the curb and into the lake. The driver was uninjured.
Chaveirim was called and partially pulled the van out of the water, until a tow truck arrived.
CHAVEIRIM- WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS!!!!!!!!!!!
Chaveirim is THE BEST!!!
Glad she is okay.
I have never heard of brakes completely failing to this point, is that even possible?
#3 – YES
if you have a vehicle that has seized brake calipers, or calipers that have the rubber gaskets that have deteriorated and allow air or water to enter the brake lines – that will eventually build air pockets.
those air pockets will increase in size every time you press your brake pedal due to the heat building up from the remaining functioning brakes calipers, eventually traveling all throughout the brake lines and system causing the pedal to fall to the floor and no brake pressure.
Cars have dual braking systems. And you always have the “emergency” brake. You could just turn the key off also.
Thank you Mr. Conservative for your insightful comment, which is appreciated more than an inciteful comment.
Happy this brake failure was nobody’s fault.
I had brake failure several times (brake lines and master cylinder, on separate occasions) B”H I was always able to stop before anything happened, but, it sure is scary. Once it caused me to go through a red light, B”H there were no on coming cars close by.
better to ram a pole then go in the lake and have the kids in the back stuck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also wondered why she didn’t just turn off the car.
true, emergency brake is probably better for the car that you don’t kill the transmission, but I also once lost brake power due to snapped belt or something like that and just turned off the car. It’s very scary when brakes fail
amazing tzvi
THE EMERGENCY BRAKE ONLY OPERATES THE REAR BRAKE CALIPERS. IF YOU HAVE REAR SEIZED BRAKE CALIPERS, OR BRAKE LINES FILLED WITH VERY OLD CONTAMINATED FLUID CAUSING AIR POCKETS IN THE REAR LINES… AND THE REAR BRAKE CALIPERS ARE NON FUNCTIONING, THEN USING THE E-BRAKE IS WORTHLESS!
people i cant stress this enough! have your brake fluid bled every 50,000miles. bleeding your brakes allows the old contaminated brake fluid to exit the system carrying with it moisture, air pockets, etc- while allowing fresh new fluid into the system. brakes are NOT perfect. they get very-very hot every time you press the pedal to use them and the rubber seals do deteriorate over time on the calipers, allow air & water to enter, and when that mixes when you press the pedal at highway speeds = it creates steam thus increasing the size of the air bubbles in the break fluid causing the pedal to fall to the floor.
also note: the front brakes do 60-75% of the stopping in a car. the rear brakes dont do much.
Have your brakes and tires inspected at every oil change (3000 miles).
Brake fluid needs to be changed every two years as it absorbs moisture which can cause brake failure and deterioration to the braking system. If you have not done these things do them as soon as possible. How much is is a life worth?
BRING BACK FULL NJ INSPECTIONS
Thank you Mr. Conservative…
Turning the key off wont help the car stop!!!
DOWN shifting to first gear would slow it down enough to put the car in park..
to #13 mvc/dmv never inspected brake fluid. air or moisture in the lines only reacts with heat. that heat has to be generated by constant brake pressure, especially at highway speeds. hitting the brakes at 10mph in a 20foot stretch of the inspection station isnt enough to bring the problem out.