What do i do if my brakes fail going downhill in a truck with automatic transmission?

Question

Two men have just been admitted to our local hospital one with serious leg injuries after they jumped from their truck after the brakes failed. One of the guys unluckily rolled under the moving truck.

Answer 1

Down shift to the lowest gear, and stand on the emergency brake. It will probably only slow you down to where you can steer off the road into a soft surface like mud or snow or even brush. Wear your seat belt and do not jump out of the vehicle. Lots have people have been killed jumping out, just to have the truck or car come to a rest without hitting anything. Have your emergency brake tested and adjusted twice a year.

Answer 2

if your brakes fails the best you can do is to remain calm and do not panic, even if thetruck has some sort of back up system it could also fail,, so be prepared for a crashing into a way side tree, a grassy bank, i think it would be better than jumping of a moving truck on the road as the person behind you could easily run you down, and leaving a running truck can cause some other people to get hurt too,well i hope and pray you do chek your truck up and service it so that brake failure is never on your mind but there is something called freak accidents and sometimes all the care in the world could not prevent it from happening , so happy driving and dont let some ones accident play on your mind, as you can become paranoid

Answer 3

Well, unless you are about to go over a cliff, don't jump out. You'd be safer crashing into something and you still have steering control to steer away from, say, a group of kids on the sidewalk or a crowded cafe.

Downshifting should slow you down and hydraulic brakes usually just get weaker, they don't outright fail all at once, so keep pounding on the brakes. Parking brake will only slow you down a little and probably burn up in the process, but put it on anyway.

Answer 4

Down shift to a lower gear, use the emergency brake. If this still doesn't slow you down, scrub of speed by riding a guard rail force car against rail, don't worry about tearing the side of you car up. Your car can be repaired or replaced. If no guard rail is there, run over mail boxes, trash cans or what ever is on the side of road. You can even ride the curb with two wheels to scrub of speed. You have to think and think fast.

Answer 5

1. You downshift into a lower gear just like with a manual and then use the emergency brake. Never shut off the engine because you will lose power steering and/or lock the steering wheel.

2. Head for soft ground or rows of hedges and let gravity do its job.

3. If you are lucky enough to have a "Jake brake" or exhaust brake use it for assistance.

4. Avoid building up excessive speed going downhill in the first place.

5. Properly maintain your vehicle, and ensure employer owned vehicles are properly maintained; it may be their vehicle, but its your life.

Answer 6

If your Brakes start to fail while decending a hill, use a lower gear to slow down. Then, pull slowly on the Emergency brake until you come to a complete stop.

Answer 7

GENTLY apply the parking brake. Be ready to release it if the rear wheels lock up. Don't jump from the vehicle. Wear a seatbelt and ride it out. Better yet, make sure you have good brakes to begin with.

You can also try to downshift the auto tranny, but if you are going too fast, it may not help, and you could over-rev your engine or shell your transmission.

Answer 8

Down shift into a lower gear. That's about all you can do.

Slowing down to a a very low speed just before the hill would be a good thing also.

At any rate, no brakes on a hill is bad news and there's no really safe way to survive it.

Answer 9

Well as far as I can recall don't auto-trannies have at least 2 lower gears you could shift into?