Brakes went on my car yesterday when I was driving.

[i-need-a-martini]

That was scary.

Lucky I was only doing 30km/hour so I could ease to a stop with the handbrake with millimetres of slamming into the back of the person in front.

But just prior I was flying over the Taren Point Bridge at 100km/hour. That could have been the end of me cause there is no way the handbrake could have been of help then.

But it got me wondering. My old car is a 30 year old Merc and the handbrake is an easy to reach pull-to-a-stop type with a big easy to grab handle. But what if it was a modern car with one of those push button handbrakes that almost hide under the steering wheel. I would have had no chance of stopping I don't think. Plus that would have been an absolute stop (as opposed to manually easing my way to a stop) and it would have caused havoc all around me.

Thank goodness for old cars!

[rabbitearbandicoot]

what do you mean they went? run out of brake fluid? 

[curmu-curmu]

Yup! I can honestly sympathise! A couple of years ago, the brakes on my hire car, a Mitsubishi Magna, failed on the descent from Mt Tambourine, heading south on the Mt Tambourine Mountain Rd.

Definitely the steepest road I've ever been on - and extremely lucky as our family of five were nearing the bottom when the brakes failed. Foot completely to the floor at about 75kmh, and nothing!

Luckily, I was able to slow down through the gears, before running off onto a shoulder on a slight incline -on the wrong side of the road - to come to a complete stop.

We all got out of the car, shaking like leaves, and my white-faced family asked why my face wasn't white. I said that all my colour had gone to my undies!

40 years a driver, and have never experienced such a fright. Turns out that the brake fluid hadn't been changed for a very long time - and had boiled during the descent.

Lokks like we were both lucky in those instances, doesn't it?

[cherry*135]

Very scary.

[raptor_rebooted]

But it got me wondering. My old car is a 30 year old Merc and the handbrake is an easy to reach pull-to-a-stop type with a big easy to grab handle. But what if it was a modern car with one of those push button handbrakes that almost hide under the steering wheel.

thats a worry.

i have only seen electronic handbrakes

located in the same spot as the mechanical

handbrakes.

hiding it under a steering wheel makes no

sense at all.   they're supposed to be easier

to use.

[ufo_investigations]

It's cars like these that need to be in the tip if they are beyond service or repair. No excuse for not keeping vehicles to roadworthy standard as it can contribute to the road toll in this country.

If you are going to drive a Mercedes go buy a new one otherwise you are just driving a potential death trap and putting innocent pedestrians and road users at risk of death.

[youcandoityoucandoityoucandoit]

Yikes!!

Sounds like the old merc came through for you martini..

[lal-au0]

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@ufo_investigations wrote:

It's cars like these that need to be in the tip if they are beyond service or repair. No excuse for not keeping vehicles to roadworthy standard as it can contribute to the road toll in this country.

If you are going to drive a Mercedes go buy a new one otherwise you are just driving a potential death trap and putting innocent pedestrians and road users at risk of death.

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[i-need-a-martini]

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@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

what do you mean they went? run out of brake fluid? 

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Brake pedal went down to the floor.

Apparently, the brake pads are gone. Our mech is trying to figure out why the warning light didn't come on.

[lal-au0]

when did you get it serviced last?