What's with all the brake lines being cut?

[Bobblehead]

Last week in Lethbridge:

Eleven vehicles in two Lethbridge neighbourhoods have now had their brake lines cut, including eight cars targeted less than two weeks ago.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...1-612f0ff5d32d

And now it is happening in Toronto:

Toronto police patrolled a midtown area overnight, after vandals cut brake lines on at least 10 cars parked at homes with Liberal election signs on their lawns.

What are people thinking?

Added Lane, whose children are 6 months and 22 months: "You have to crawl under someone's car and cut the brake line, knowing that it could kill someone, or their whole family."

Lane discovered his brakes didn't work on his silver Saturn View as he tried to pull up at a stop sign near his home yesterday. He kept slamming the brakes and, in a "moment of terror," narrowly avoided slamming into a bus.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

What's with all the break lines being cut?

I hate it when I have my coffee break, and I'm waiting in line, and somebody decided to cut in front.

[/Grammar Nazi]

[First Lady]

Thought this was going to be a fashion thread:

1 dictionary results for: break line
Webster's New Millennium

Main Entry: break line
Part of Speech: n
Definition: the line where a clothing collar folds

[Bobblehead]

Yeah, yeah. It's Sunday morning.....

I'll fix it.

[NSFL]

*Raises hand* So...question from someone who knows nothing about cars, if your brake lines have been cut, does your emergency brake still work?

And, why would people do something like this? Just idiotic.

I've stared at the word break/brake so long that they don't look like words anymore.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by NSFL

*Raises hand* So...question from someone who knows nothing about cars, if your brake lines have been cut, does your emergency brake still work?

And, why would people do something like this? Just idiotic.

I've stared at the word break/brake so long that they don't look like words anymore.

Your emergency brake runs on a cable that goes directly to your brakes and functions very much like bike brakes, so unless they cut it as well it should still work.

[Drunk Skunk]

Originally Posted by NSFL

*Raises hand* So...question from someone who knows nothing about cars, if your brake lines have been cut, does your emergency brake still work?

And, why would people do something like this? Just idiotic.

I've stared at the word break/brake so long that they don't look like words anymore.

It depends. If it's an older vehicle, and the emergency brake isn't used very often, it may freeze up and not engage.

If that happens, shift into neutral and aim for a soft spot.

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Your emergency brake runs on a cable that goes directly to your brakes and functions very much like bike brakes, so unless they cut it as well it should still work.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Drunk Skunk

It depends. If it's an older vehicle, and the emergency brake isn't used very often, it may freeze up and not engage.

If that happens, shift into neutral and aim for a soft spot.

I don't think I would be smart enough to think of that when I realize my brakes don't work.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Drunk Skunk

It depends. If it's an older vehicle, and the emergency brake isn't used very often, it may freeze up and not engage.

If that happens, shift into neutral and aim for a soft spot.

Or shift to a lower gear and use the engine to brake... won't get you stopped, but it can really slow you down. This can be done in most automatics and all manuals.

[tkflames]

Originally Posted by NSFL

Thanks.



I don't think I would be smart enough to think of that when I realize my brakes don't work.

That should be your natural impulse when in an emergency stop situation too (eg. if you are about to crash).

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by tkflames

That should be your natural impulse when in an emergency stop situation too (eg. if you are about to crash).

Hmm, well, I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

[Igottago]

The people who do this deserve to be beaten by an angry mob.

[ken0042]

A few things that come to mind-

For those who say you wouldn't think to use the emergency brake, it's something you should be ready to do. I've had brake lines go on me before, and it's important to have a second way to stop your car if the brakes fail.

That being said, the emergency brake cannot handle high speed stops. As mentioned, use neutral or engine braking to slow down. I wouldn't recommend using the e-brake over 20 km/h. So try to head uphill if possible (which is where you would use neutral) or engine brake- downshifting one gear at a time.

Also check your owner's manual or with your mechanic. The GMs I've been driving since the mid 80's have all had dual master cylinders (the thing-ma-bob that stores brake fluid.) So if I have a brake line cut or blow out on me, I would have 2 more chances to use the opposite brakes (front or rear depending on what gets cut) before completely losing brake pressure. But you would also have to recognize it; most common symptom is the brakes being very squishy or the pedal going almost all the way to the floor.

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by ken0042

A few things that come to mind-

For those who say you wouldn't think to use the emergency brake, it's something you should be ready to do. I've had brake lines go on me before, and it's important to have a second way to stop your car if the brakes fail.

That being said, the emergency brake cannot handle high speed stops. As mentioned, use neutral or engine braking to slow down. I wouldn't recommend using the e-brake over 20 km/h. So try to head uphill if possible (which is where you would use neutral) or engine brake- downshifting one gear at a time.

Also check your owner's manual or with your mechanic. The GMs I've been driving since the mid 80's have all had dual master cylinders (the thing-ma-bob that stores brake fluid.) So if I have a brake line cut or blow out on me, I would have 2 more chances to use the opposite brakes (front or rear depending on what gets cut) before completely losing brake pressure. But you would also have to recognize it; most common symptom is the brakes being very squishy or the pedal going almost all the way to the floor.

Well, I'm glad I asked. Learning a lot. It's not that I wouldn't think to use the emergency braek, it's that I wouldn't think to go to neutral first.

[RougeUnderoos]

Forgive my insolence, but wouldn't you figure out your brakes are not working when you are backing out of your driveway/garage/parking space?

I'm trying to think of scenarios where you would just hop in the car, shift into drive and start going forward without ever touching the brakes.

Do the brakes work for a while after they've been cut?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Do the brakes work for a while after they've been cut?

See the last paragraph of my above post. If somebody were to cut a brake line on my car, I would have 2 shots with 1/2 the braking power. That would be just enough to back up and get onto the road. And with 1/2 braking power you might not notice when stopping the car from 10 km/h.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Forgive my insolence, but wouldn't you figure out your brakes are not working when you are backing out of your driveway/garage/parking space?

I'm trying to think of scenarios where you would just hop in the car, shift into drive and start going forward without ever touching the brakes.

Do the brakes work for a while after they've been cut?

If you're parked on the street or if you backed into your driveway when you parked the car?

[Azure]

Good way to get people killed.

I can't imagine going down Lethbridge Hill at 120km/h with your brake lines cut....and there being an accident down at the bottom.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Azure

Good way to get people killed.

I can't imagine going down Lethbridge Hill at 120km/h with your brake lines cut....and there being an accident down at the bottom.

Fortunately all the brakes were cut on the southside. So if any of them made it to Whoop Up Drive all the traffic would be going the opposite direction. They'd have a good chance of using the hill to slow them down so they could pull over.

The places in Lethbridge whose brakes were broken were all houses whose cars were parked on a parking pad off of the back alley. Thats not to say that the culprits won't change their methods, but doing it to cars parked on the front street, or on a front driveway would significantly increase the chances of you getting caught.

[Vulcan]

In Toronto it's all about dirty political tricks gone way over board, targeting Liberal supporters with signs on their front yard.
When I lived in Calgary I put an NDP sign up a few times and every time I went to vote following that, I wouldn't be on the voters list despite living at the same address for many years. Minor inconvenience but irritating and after it happened a couple of times, I cottoned on that maybe I was being sent a message.