The typical brake failure story in the US newspapers is nothing more than a one paragraph story with the phrase: “Driver reported brake failure.” In rare cases, the story might say: “Police are examining the vehicle.” It is rare you actually read about the results of the investigation.

In the UK, things are different. In the North Devon Journal, they tell the complete story of how vehicle neglect killed the driver in one of those rear situation were the vehicle need to be in tip top shape.

From the article:

Vehicle examiner Geoffrey Chapman told the inquest that the 10-year-old Corsa was not in a serviceable condition and was not reasonably maintained.

He said the nearside braking system was defective and the brakes were not adjusted correctly. The handbrake adjuster was not correctly fitted and was incorrectly adjusted.

Mr Chapman said the offside front coil had fractured and the tyres, except the offside rear, were of an incorrect size. The mismatched rear tyres would have resulted in an MOT failure.

“It would not have caused the vehicle to go out of control, but once it was out of control and the driver attempted to rectify it or reduce speed, the vehicle’s defects would have had an adverse effect on the handling.”

The crash killed Sasha Stewart while she was driving home from here shift as a nurse. Some have speculated that a sudden fog bank caused here to lose control of her vehicle. I am sure Sasha knew her brakes, tires and suspension were not up to standards. But, she could never predict if was going to be fog, bad driver or pedestrian that was going to make her have to use all of the car’s capabilities.

This story is a must read for all driver thinking about putting of a brake repair.

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