The Day The Brakes Went Out

30 sec handheld exposure while driving 2007

So we were house and car sitting for some friends that were in Europe last week.  Both things a huge blessing to us, since we don't have a car out here and we live in a house slightly larger than a double wide trailer with 8 other people...

Broken Down Car Leaves Us Stranded

Our friend told us before he left, "I topped off all the fluids on the car, and fixed the brake light that was on, so you should be good.  Let us know if any big emergency happens cause they always do."

I was driving his car around and realizing that the brakes were a little soft, not so easy to stop.  After a while I realized there was a serious problem and talked to a friend of mine that was a mechanic.  He couldn't look at it until the next day.  So this morning we left to go into work, as I pulled out of our car port, the brake pedal went straight to the floor, I pulled the e-brake and still nothing, we were still going forward.  Eventually we stopped, but the brakes WERE not responsive.

I backed it back into our spot and tried to figure out what to do, work is just right around the corner, so I threw my hazards on, threw it in LOW gear and made sure I had TONS of room to brake.  I made it to work fine and my friend looked at the car.  We bled the front brakes after adding some brake fluid and found out the problem was with the rear drums.  I don't know anything about cars so I'm going to stop there.

I'm writing this post to tell you what to do IF your brakes go out or your gas pedal gets stuck.

I always remember this because it happened to me in high school.  I was riding with my friend Graham in his champange colored caddy, he gunned it out onto Tamar drive from Phelps Luck or High Tor which is a 30mph road.  He starts freaking out and the car starts jumping all over the place.  His gas pedal got stuck to the floor when he pulled out onto Tamar.  I think we hit like 60mph on this 30mph road.  Maybe it wasn't that high.  But Graham was slamming on his brakes which wasn't doing much good as the car engine was revving, he tried putting it in neutral, and the RPMs just redlined, he then stuck it in a lower gear which caused the car to jump, but it did slow it down and then put it in the lowest gear to get it to slow down even more until he could safely pull over.

I asked why he knew to down shift.  He said he learned that in drivers ed.  I didn't remember learning that but it's a lesson that will forever stick with me.  I hope it sticks with YOU now too!

Engage:  What is the craziest car experience you have ever had?  Let us know in the comments.