WWTBAM Bored

Got a text several hours ago.

Big J had his brakes fail, and rear ended a truck while doing 80 kilometres on the highway. He has a seatbelt strap rash, and a sore nose from the airbags, but otherwise okay. Car is a total write off, the front end was pushed almost to the back seat. The driver of the car he hit had to pull J’s door open from the outside to get him out.

Glad to hear he's all right and that the seat belts did the job. Totaled cars can be replaced; totaled people can't.

Oh Sauce. Thank you God.

And thank goodness for the engineers who invented and developed air bags, which can be a huge hassle but were developed for almost exactly this type of event. Seat belts alone are not enough in this type of impact. I'm so glad he's safe.

So glad he is OK. A very scary thing.

Ouch! I'm glad he's relatively unscathed.

Does he have any idea how his brakes failed?

Saucy, I am so glad to hear that he'll be ok!

This November it will be 50 years since we lost my little sister when she was 16. Air bags might have given her a decent chance.

As long as he's OK, the other stuff can be dealt with. A big thank you to his guardian angel.

Across his belly, the seatbelt left a nasty bruise, made me shudder.

He works as a delivery driver, so asked me for a ride to work. I just gave him my keys, said shit happens, and let him take my car. Trying to show confidence in him, as he feels really upset.

Yikes! I'm so glad he's OK.

Bob Juch wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 9:59 am

Ouch! I'm glad he's relatively unscathed.

Does he have any idea how his brakes failed?

With a totaled car, it's likely nobody will bother finding out how; but usually it is a hole in the brake line. It's happened to me twice, where without warning, the pedal just goes to the floor because you don't have any pressure in the line. Brine used on roads in winter time is a big reason for brake line failure. After municipalities around here use brine, I take my car to a touchless wash and flush the undercarriage to help prevent the problem.

If it ever happens, hopefully you have a hand parking brake (also known as an emergency brake for this reason) and hold the button in with your thumb as you pull so you can regulate them and the rear tires don't lock up. Not that everyone can think and react this way in the situation, but that's the best option when this happens.

Oh good grief I am glad everybody is fine.

I once had my brakes fail, without warning natch, at a gas station.

In the days when they had attendants who actually Knew Stuff.