I’m mostly thinking about a scenario where you are going down a highway (say, at 120kmh for the sake of the example) and suddenly your brakes fail
could shifting to Reverse function as a brake in that situation?
edit: thank you all for the answers, I want to note that I myself don’t drive and did not consider doing this, I was just wondering if this was possible
have a lovely day o/
In: 11
I asked myself this question when Toyotas were allegedly speeding up on their own and crashing. Interesting answers.
https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota-pay-12b-hiding-deadly-unintended-acceleration/story?id=22972214
I’ve had this happening to me, driving my trusty (turns out: not so much) old Fiat 850 towards a busy intersection. Best I could think of, was shifting to the lowest gear, from 4 to 1 in one go. It worked somewhat, the car stalled about 2 car lengths on to te intersection. I definitely scared the living daylights out of the rest of the traffic, not to mention myself and my mother, sitting next to me. The noises coming from the car! I was sure I’d ruined it, but I guess we were lucky. It started right up, and after some time, when the brakes had cooled down, I was able to coast home.
I’ve had this happening to me, driving my trusty (turns out: not so much) old Fiat 850 towards a busy intersection. Best I could think of, was shifting to the lowest gear, from 4 to 1 in one go. It worked somewhat, the car stalled about 2 car lengths on to te intersection. I definitely scared the living daylights out of the rest of the traffic, not to mention myself and my mother, sitting next to me. The noises coming from the car! I was sure I’d ruined it, but I guess we were lucky. It started right up, and after some time, when the brakes had cooled down, I was able to coast home.
I did it once in. 1972 mercury. Brakes went while on the highway, I smashed the parking brake to prevent a crash, that didn’t take enough speed off so I slammed it in reverse and locked up the back wheels. It did stop. I didn’t hit anything. I’m sure the trans hated it, pretty sure I messed up the bearings of the drive shaft a bit too…
But, and old enough car, it is a viable (terrifying and last resort) option.
I witnessed a post office truck shift into reverse to try and stop. His brakes were still working but he was going to rear end a vehicle so shifted in an attempt to stop faster. His transmission and differential exploded. The wheels and axle stayed on the ground and the rear end of the box launched about 8 feet high. He still hit the vehicle in front of him. My dad was a mechanic for the post office and came home laughing and telling me about the damage to the truck.
My first car was an ’84 Kcar and one night I hit the brakes but wasn’t stopping so I slammed it into park at about 30kph. We stopped very violently and quickly, my passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and ate the dash lol. It didn’t do any damage to the car.
Can you? It depends on the car (Newer cars definitely not, older ones maybe)
Should you? If you have to stop *right now* and your car *can* do it, it’s an option. It would be unsafe but you’re already in an unsafe situation to begin with.
Here’s a video showing what happens in an older (manual transmission) car where it is possible.
I did it once in. 1972 mercury. Brakes went while on the highway, I smashed the parking brake to prevent a crash, that didn’t take enough speed off so I slammed it in reverse and locked up the back wheels. It did stop. I didn’t hit anything. I’m sure the trans hated it, pretty sure I messed up the bearings of the drive shaft a bit too…
But, and old enough car, it is a viable (terrifying and last resort) option.
Not a car guy, so my first response would have been “jam it into park”.
But yes, using the parking brake would seem to be the best solution.
I am curious, though, about electric vehicles.
Driving an electric forklift, operators are instructed to utilize what is known as “plugging” for emergency stopping. “Plugging” is simply switching the transmission from “forward” to “reverse” while not letting up on the throttle. The electric motor brakes the forklift and, eventually, begins to reverse it back the way it came.
I am curious if “plugging” is a possibility in electric vehicles.
I witnessed a post office truck shift into reverse to try and stop. His brakes were still working but he was going to rear end a vehicle so shifted in an attempt to stop faster. His transmission and differential exploded. The wheels and axle stayed on the ground and the rear end of the box launched about 8 feet high. He still hit the vehicle in front of him. My dad was a mechanic for the post office and came home laughing and telling me about the damage to the truck.
My first car was an ’84 Kcar and one night I hit the brakes but wasn’t stopping so I slammed it into park at about 30kph. We stopped very violently and quickly, my passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and ate the dash lol. It didn’t do any damage to the car.
I did it once in. 1972 mercury. Brakes went while on the highway, I smashed the parking brake to prevent a crash, that didn’t take enough speed off so I slammed it in reverse and locked up the back wheels. It did stop. I didn’t hit anything. I’m sure the trans hated it, pretty sure I messed up the bearings of the drive shaft a bit too…
But, and old enough car, it is a viable (terrifying and last resort) option.
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