So today, I was in a lane to make a right turn.

A car was infront of me just about to make a turn. The driver

suddenly stops the car but I had a huge gap to stop the car with no

problem. I started to put pressure on the brake pedal like always.

But then, it felt different; it was too cushy, and the pedal went in deeper

than it should and heard this vibrating sound(someone said it's ABS...?)

and the car did not stop and kept on going. I was like "what the hell is going on?"

and wasn't able to pull the e-brake quick enough.

I was going initally at about 10km/hr so it was not dangerous at all.

But...unfortunately I hit the car infront. Thank god that car was

an old car so the bumper is made of those huge metal piece.

So there was no damage on that car but my license plate got little bent.

(Thank god for that too this is when I find the front license plate so useful)

I want to know what the cause of this was?

I had a similar experience before in a different car.

I'm just worried that it might happen again without realizing why it happened.

Can someone help me out please?

Thanks in advance!

 

You have a MAJOR problem with your brakes, sounds like you have a shortage of brake fluid- you need to find out why. You should NOT drive your car until it is resolved. The emergency brake is for emergency use only, it really isn't designed to stop the car.

 

Emergency use only? That sounded like an emergency.

 

My intent was to explain that you should not drive the car if you have to rely on the emergency brake as your primary means to stop. Thank you for your contribution to the thread.

 

Maybe there's nothing wrong with the brakes, and you just pushed them harder than ever before? If you engaged ABS (pulsing in the break pedals?) the brakes locked up, so I'd think it is more of a matter of your perspective. The car did stop, just not in time. Have you ever engaged ABS before? The wheels will continue to roll instead of locking up.

 

Saki, He said

"I had a huge gap to stop the car with no

problem. I started to put pressure on the brake pedal like always.

But then, it felt different; it was too cushy, and the pedal went in deeper

than it should and heard this vibrating sound(someone said it's ABS...?)

and the car did not stop and kept on going."

If he couldn't stop the car within a "Huge Gap" from 10km/hr there is something wrong with his brakes. Unless he was on an oil slick.

To the OP, your car is under warantee, if your brake fluid is low, you may be able to get your brakes working by adding fluid, but if you have a low fluid level there is probably some reason it is low, likely a leak in the system somewhere. Take it to the dealer. Don't drive it without reliable brakes so have it towed if you have to.

 

Sounds like you hit anti-lock... Was it cold out? The road surface might've been slicker than you think. Also, stock tires get very hard in cold temps.

Definitely check the level in the brake reservoir, but if it was really low I suspect you would've had a brake idiot light on. It's possible there's air bubbles in your brake lines, in which case you need to bleed them.

Definitely have a good mechanic look at this. Sorry for your accident.

 

Thank you all for the replies.
My brake light was not on.
I pushed on the brake pedal just like any other time I would push to slow down so I'm not sure if it was ABS that was engaged.
I'll go to the dealer sometimes soon to check the car.
Thanks again

 

Haha.. we just went over this in auto!

Low pedal= low fluid
Spungey pedal= air in lines
A decreasing pedal when you step on it (no pedal pressure.. kind of like what you were describing)= leak

I think that's how it goes.. I wasn't really paying attention.. =/. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

I found out something new from a friend of mine.
His car is MDX BTW