Car engine turned off and brakes stopped work whilst driving down a hill…

[Sophie9090]

My DH thinks I’m overreacting about our car engine cutting out whilst driving down a hill and the brakes stopped working!! I was terrified, I had my one year old in the car. I Wasn’t going fast and thankful stopped the car with the handbrake just in time.

The car was in the garage yesterday as we had noticed a strange noise, they couldn’t find any problem. My husband thinks we should keep an eye on it, aibu to say I’m absolutely not driving it until it’s checked again?

I don’t know why the brakes stopped working as they should still work when the engines off, it’s a bit strange. I turned the engine on again and they worked normal.

thanks

You absolutely should not be driving a car that has an issue with the brakes not working reliably. Worst case scenario you could kill someone.

The brakes on most cars are assisted these days, and the engine needs to be running to supply the vacuum to the brake servo so if the engine cuts out the braking effort is likely to be reduced.

Get the engine issue sorted and the brakes will certainly be fine. If the engine cuts out when driving you should still be able to stop but you will need to press the brake pedal a lot harder.

I swear I saw this earlier but with different replies