Danger on the Highway

While working one summer at a small theatre in rural Vermont, I agreed to take a friend back to her apartment in New York City. After my ancient Plymouth Voyager broke down the previous fall, I purchased a gently used Chevy with only 30,000 miles on it. The small car had served me great, so there was no doubt in my mind that we could make the 4 hour trip from Dorset to New York City.

We left on a languid, Saturday afternoon, and around 5pm, we were within 45 minutes of crossing into Manhattan. Moving along at 60 mph, we crested a hill and I noticed that traffic had stopped ahead of us. When I hit the brakes, though, the pedal went right to floor. We continued to hurtle towards the halted traffic.

Time suddenly began to move very slowly. I could feel my friend tense up next me, pushing herself as far as she could into the back of her seat. I tried the brake again; still nothing.

The next three seconds became indelible in my memory. At 60 mph, I roared through closing gaps in traffic, jerking left to avoid a Mercedes and an Escalade, a quick right and riding the lane line to nearly miss hitting a black Ford Taurus, and scraping the side of a Honda Odyssey before getting a clear shot to the shoulder where I grabbed the parking brake.

Once stopped, I turned to my friend, and asked, “Are you alright?” To my surprise, she was smiling. “That was awesome!” she shouted, “It was like a video game!”

Luckily, when the Honda mini-van stopped, I had only broken her side mirror. After exchanging insurance information, we drove away, with my brakes responding again.

The next day, I took my vehicle to a mechanic. Though I needed new brake pads, they couldn’t find anything wrong with the system’s pressure. I researched online, and couldn’t find any similar accounts. I like to think that the whole thing was user error, where I accidentally hit the acceleration, or even more unlikely, the clutch. Regardless, I’m glad that I kept my cool and didn’t panic.

The whole situation also reinforced that regular brake service is vital to keeping your vehicle safe. You don’t really appreciate your brakes until you lose them.