Jeff Seighman
aka jeffnmo
What if your master cylinder **** the bed or you had leaks, the emergency/parking brake is mechanical, no fluid involved. Might not be the case with comet idiot but could help someone else in the future.
1300 hp mercury comet brake failure crash
- Thread starter 65TerrorCuda
- Start date
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This is horrible and avoidable, but there could be reason to not mention the other car occupants - active lawsuits. Just my 2¢
floivanus
Well-Known Member
Which would’ve been an AMAZING reason to not post the video, or for the Mercury owner to not comment
MinnesotaMopar
MinnesotaMopar
I'll agree that the builder of the car was negligent and the driver was more than negligent to the point of "callous disregard" for human life. If there had been pedestrians around it could have been much worse.
I don't think a working parking brake would have helped since they generally use the same brake surface as the regular brakes. Since the primary brake pads were completely overheated and faded, the parking brake would have been completely non functional as well. I know some disc brake setups use a small drum brake for the parking brake, but that is so small it would have faded to nothing almost immediately and would have made no difference.
It looks like he tried to put it into park, which should have taken the transmission out of the gear and eliminated the engine power from pushing the car. But it still coasted into the minivan pretty hard. It would have been better to turn the engine off and use engine braking to slow the vehicle, but at least he got it out of gear. Reverse would have been the best choice, and would have locked up the rear tires stopping the car real quick. Even if he did get the trans to engage in park, the parking pawl would have just sheared off and the car would have still coasted into the minivan.
I suspect the insurance company settled with the minivan occupants and obtained releases of liability before the youtube video was ever released. Which is why they so easily admit all of the things they did wrong. The liability is settled and his youtube video is getting lots of hits and publicity. Which is what they want.
Not much accountability in this case for the people at fault. And as already mentioned by other posters, this reflects badly on all of us hotrodders. Fools like this deserve every bit of criticism and disrespect they get!
I don't think a working parking brake would have helped since they generally use the same brake surface as the regular brakes. Since the primary brake pads were completely overheated and faded, the parking brake would have been completely non functional as well. I know some disc brake setups use a small drum brake for the parking brake, but that is so small it would have faded to nothing almost immediately and would have made no difference.
It looks like he tried to put it into park, which should have taken the transmission out of the gear and eliminated the engine power from pushing the car. But it still coasted into the minivan pretty hard. It would have been better to turn the engine off and use engine braking to slow the vehicle, but at least he got it out of gear. Reverse would have been the best choice, and would have locked up the rear tires stopping the car real quick. Even if he did get the trans to engage in park, the parking pawl would have just sheared off and the car would have still coasted into the minivan.
I suspect the insurance company settled with the minivan occupants and obtained releases of liability before the youtube video was ever released. Which is why they so easily admit all of the things they did wrong. The liability is settled and his youtube video is getting lots of hits and publicity. Which is what they want.
Not much accountability in this case for the people at fault. And as already mentioned by other posters, this reflects badly on all of us hotrodders. Fools like this deserve every bit of criticism and disrespect they get!
I think the fact that the motor has 1300 hp has little to do with the accident. Think about throttle position and power output. The throttle was nowhere near wide open throttle. Listen to the engine when the brakes went out. To me it doesn't sound like a motor that was putting out much power. Likely the throttle is sticking near the closed side of travel rather than the wide open end. Simular to a improperly adjusted idle speed around 2000 rpm. Think about how little power it takes to propel a car at that speed and rpm. The car didn’t appear to be accelerating rapidly. It was more or less just maintaining speed. I would say that the majority of our cars are capable of that kind of power output. The fact that he had zero brakes probably had more to do with the accident than how much power the motor is capable of producing. We all would be in trouble with zero brakes and little time to react. Things happen fast in the heat of the moment and sometimes our brains don't as well as we think they would. We can all pick out some detail of the accident and say it couldn't happen to me because of this or that. What ever we have to do to to convince ourselves that "I could never be that guy".
I would have liked to think I would have headed for the right shoulder but it is hard to see if pedestrians were on the sidewalk. I know I would have aimed for between 2 cars and not just rear ended the van. The light turned green just before impact, any slowing down and the stopped cars would have started moving.
Steve welder
Well-Known Member
Back in the eighties I drove a C20 Chevy set up as a welding rig. It had a diesel. I was having trouble with throttle, would get to a point maybe mid pedal and be hard to push, as if there was a obstruction or something sticking. I went all over the linkage, return spring, pump seemed ok
The problem persisted but the fuel pedal never stuck, just got to a point were it became hard to push
I knew there was a problem
One day I was on my way home on the expressway, driving on. a section that had a long upwards grade
I was trying to maintain 50-55 and so I gave it more fuel.
At that point suddenly pressing on the pedal it went to the floor and wouldn't come up
As slow and as loaded as that truck was in what seemed to be seconds I was over 65 and heading to 70
The truck had a hydraulic brake booster and power steering and I was aware of that but I immediately killed the ignition, threw it into neutral and got on the shoulder and stoped
Yes it was a very little bit hairy for a couple of seconds and this is a slow as **** truck mind you
As it turned out on the side of the road I realised the problem was inside the injection pump
I got the truck home safely and replaced the pump
Was I as irresponsible as those two fools? Well my brakes were in perfect shape as I redid them all the way around months before. I knew my vehicle and although nervous I didnt panic
I always drove slow with this rig as it was single axel plus it took some distance to stop
When I went with a bigger welder I bought a dual wheel truck with bigger brakes and front discs
The problem persisted but the fuel pedal never stuck, just got to a point were it became hard to push
I knew there was a problem
One day I was on my way home on the expressway, driving on. a section that had a long upwards grade
I was trying to maintain 50-55 and so I gave it more fuel.
At that point suddenly pressing on the pedal it went to the floor and wouldn't come up
As slow and as loaded as that truck was in what seemed to be seconds I was over 65 and heading to 70
The truck had a hydraulic brake booster and power steering and I was aware of that but I immediately killed the ignition, threw it into neutral and got on the shoulder and stoped
Yes it was a very little bit hairy for a couple of seconds and this is a slow as **** truck mind you
As it turned out on the side of the road I realised the problem was inside the injection pump
I got the truck home safely and replaced the pump
Was I as irresponsible as those two fools? Well my brakes were in perfect shape as I redid them all the way around months before. I knew my vehicle and although nervous I didnt panic
I always drove slow with this rig as it was single axel plus it took some distance to stop
When I went with a bigger welder I bought a dual wheel truck with bigger brakes and front discs
Steve welder
Well-Known Member
I would suggest you reread my very first sentence. Parking brake or emergency brake is moot but facts are he either didnt have a functioning one or didnt use it
I would agree that using a E brake or whatever you decide to call it would not have avoided the collision but shutting the engine, dropping into low gear and applying a E brake could have lowered the speed of the vehicle.
New cars have electronic P brakes, either full on or off but older cars the P brake can be applied like any brake by holding the release up with one hand.
The emergency brake on my 48 Willys is on the tail shaft of the transfer case, it was not functioning when I bought my jeep. The Jeep is a single master cylinder. One leak no brakes. I wouldn't drive that Jeep without a E brake
I leaned how to drive on a identical jeep back in the middle sixties , earlier than that my dad had a brake line burst while we were out in that Jeep. We were on very steep hill with a dangerous curve.
The old man put that Jeep in low range and with the E brake we went safely down that hill and made it home
Knowing your vehicle, know how things work is all I can say
65TerrorCuda
Well-Known Member
E brake and turn might get you a sideways slide. That would scrub off speed.
The court requires the defendant to attend dirt track school in a 1978 Chevy Caprice
The court requires the defendant to attend dirt track school in a 1978 Chevy Caprice
Agree. 1300 Hp or slant six sticky throttle needs to be fixed.
Uncle Bob
Shiny paint causes stress.
All this talk about shutting the engine off and taking advantage of engine braking - would you really get engine braking in that condition? The engine's off, the transmission is an automatic, the converter isn't turning the pump, so the clutch packs are released. I think the net result would be the same as shoving the shifter into neutral. Or am I wrong?
I think you're correct. That's why I've not addressed it. IMO it would have better to down shift.
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
I have had the parking brake system save my *** a couple times when the car wouldn't stop because I had a bad master cyl. It does matter and is effective at stopping the car whether its twice the distance or not.
That light goes on once the pedal depresses beyond normal travel..and that's when you know...you braking on cable n rear shoes and nothing else.
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
How about if they both just looked at each other and each one bailed out of the car and ..."let it go"...lmao and both were run over by traffic AND the car hit ,caught air and cork screwed into a ball of flames...
Would have made for better tv.
Would have made for better tv.
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
Downshift of course...still maybe 25 mph or so... how about neutral..oh wait, that's what he didnt wanna do.. was over rev it...ok aim for cars then..
replicaracer43
Grumpy Old Man
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Right on que, another jackass trying to make money off of this situation. Making a video, about a dumbass making a video. Coming from a jackass that has a permanently revoked license, and still drives shitbox cars on the road for "veiws"
Jeff Seighman
aka jeffnmo
D & D speed shop made a video about it too but I on't know how to link it.
Jeff Seighman
aka jeffnmo
Like dat there. I like Dan, he does some pretty cool **** with them shoe box chebby's, Thanks
Howard1784
Well-Known Member
If the governor of NY sees this video, she will ban all muscle cars in New York because they are "dangerous" if congress wont do it she will
Scody21
Just send it
Spend all this money on everything else than the brakes. What did he think was going to happen.
A while back we were working on a dart, putting a drive train in it, suspension, you name it to get this thing driving. On it’s first drive through town, a small town, we were good, got back to the shop after about 3-4 miles, then we switched drivers, and our buddy hammered on it a little bit down a back road, nothing crazy, but enough, again 3-4 miles, made it back to the shop, we switched again, I took it thought town, the same route, 3-4 miles, no problems, get back to the shop, I pull it in the door, and my buddy is egging me on to roast the tires, as it’s tradition to burn rubber in the shop, I get the tires spinning a little, *** end steps a little sidewise and next thing I know the brake pedal is on the floor, car is rolling forward in the shop towards the work bench, I slide the column shifter in park, and grab the brake and only thankfully rolled about 3 feet forward. All this is in-between a hoist, we roll it back, and as I’m putting the the arms under the car I see fluid on the pass front tire, get the car in the air, and the fresh 10 year old rebuilt KH caliper center seal let loose. Good thing it didn’t happen 5-20 minutes sooner when we were out in the wild. This is why a shake down and then check in necessary.
When my bro runs any of the vintage formula or sports cars in his shop, Protocol is to nut and bolt check the car after every session, check and bleed the brakes, drain catch tanks, wipe the car down, check everything, etc… BTW the sessions are 20 to 30 minutes, or 10 to 20 laps. Then when the car gets back to the shop it is again nut and bolt checked along with a full race prep. It’s critical for safety…
I look my car over each time I push it out of the garage, check fluids and then warm her up, shut her down and heat soak for a few, check for drips etc. I then go for putt through town, getting the gear box and diff hot, check the brakes, and head for the back road, taking it easy till the road opens up, drop a gear and ring her neck, bouncing the rev limiter, no lift shifts through all 4 gears and driving like I stole it carving the twisties…
A while back we were working on a dart, putting a drive train in it, suspension, you name it to get this thing driving. On it’s first drive through town, a small town, we were good, got back to the shop after about 3-4 miles, then we switched drivers, and our buddy hammered on it a little bit down a back road, nothing crazy, but enough, again 3-4 miles, made it back to the shop, we switched again, I took it thought town, the same route, 3-4 miles, no problems, get back to the shop, I pull it in the door, and my buddy is egging me on to roast the tires, as it’s tradition to burn rubber in the shop, I get the tires spinning a little, *** end steps a little sidewise and next thing I know the brake pedal is on the floor, car is rolling forward in the shop towards the work bench, I slide the column shifter in park, and grab the brake and only thankfully rolled about 3 feet forward. All this is in-between a hoist, we roll it back, and as I’m putting the the arms under the car I see fluid on the pass front tire, get the car in the air, and the fresh 10 year old rebuilt KH caliper center seal let loose. Good thing it didn’t happen 5-20 minutes sooner when we were out in the wild. This is why a shake down and then check in necessary.
When my bro runs any of the vintage formula or sports cars in his shop, Protocol is to nut and bolt check the car after every session, check and bleed the brakes, drain catch tanks, wipe the car down, check everything, etc… BTW the sessions are 20 to 30 minutes, or 10 to 20 laps. Then when the car gets back to the shop it is again nut and bolt checked along with a full race prep. It’s critical for safety…
I look my car over each time I push it out of the garage, check fluids and then warm her up, shut her down and heat soak for a few, check for drips etc. I then go for putt through town, getting the gear box and diff hot, check the brakes, and head for the back road, taking it easy till the road opens up, drop a gear and ring her neck, bouncing the rev limiter, no lift shifts through all 4 gears and driving like I stole it carving the twisties…
According to comments on the youtube video "all that" has already been settled.......but who really knows?
I admit, I don't check my brake fluid every single time I drive the car. I do check it probably three times a month though. I will say this. If I ever feel anything out of the ordinary, I come back home. Have done it before with the old single reservoir master cylinder. It had a very, very slow leak. I returned home after getting it out of the driveway, because the pedal was "a little" lower than normal. Come to find out, the leak was the master cylinder had a crack in it on the bottom port that had a plug in it. That's when I went ahead and made the switch to the disc brake master cylinder on it now. None of us is perfect, I mean that truly. But I think we can do a better job of trying than these guys did.
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