Rep Power: 0

my son lent his car to a girl who (after driving 20 miles) went through a red light causing an accident which totaled his 2004 honda civic. the girl is claiming "total" brake failure and therefore she is not responsible. my son has maintenance records showing the front brakes were changed 10 months ago (less than 10K) and the mechanic says the back brakes were damaged in the accident but shows 50% brake pad left. she is claiming the back seat witness "saw" her trying to brake and that my son is lucky she prevented him from being in the accident because he "lent" her a defective car. he is thinking of sueing her in small claims court for damages (his car was deemed a total loss and the repair of over 7K is higher than the KBB worth of about 6.5K. Question: what is total brake failure and could this happen after driving 20 miles? Is not one liable for returning what one borrows in the same condition?

 
Rep Power: 285

There are numerous possible causes for brake failure, the wear left on the brake pads being the least likely cause. The entire brake system would need to be inspected. Total brake failure is the brakes completely failing to function.

 
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There could be leaks in the tens of feet of line that run throughout the car, massive air bubbles, MC or booster failure. It can literally be almost anything within the system that can cause a major total failure.

 
Rep Power: 518

my son lent his car

Problem #1

to a girl

Problem #1.5, (part of #1)

who (after driving 20 miles) went through a red light

Problem #2 and 3


causing an accident

Problem #4

which totaled his 2004 honda civic.

Problem #5

the girl is claiming "total" brake failure and therefore she is not responsible.

Aaaaand problem #6.


Seriously doubt it.
Girl can't own up to her mistake, someone else will take care of it for her (precious snowflake syndrome).

Prove the brakes failed... there will be evidence if they did. (Someone who knows what they are doing would have to assess it though.)
Just turn it in to the insurance company, that's what they are for.
Let them determine fault.






my son has maintenance records showing the front brakes were changed 10 months ago (less than 10K) and the mechanic says the back brakes were damaged in the accident but shows 50% brake pad left.

Factual measurements here, son. Percentages are a guess.
Actually, the thickness of the lining doesn't matter. As long as there is lining left, there is 100% braking ability possible from the pad.


she is claiming the back seat witness "saw" her trying to brake

Who cares.
All that means is everybody in the car got their stories straight.

Someone may have seen her pumping something.
Was it a brake pedal?
Gas pedal?
Clutch?
Something totally different?
Since when do girls in the back seat ever pay attention to what the driver is doing?
Someone in the back normally can't even see what the drivers feet are doing.

Hell, even the kid that made this post can admit he hit the gas pedal instead of the brake: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...ml#post4595873


and that my son is lucky she prevented him from being in the accident because he "lent" her a defective car.

Bull. Butter.


he is thinking of sueing her in small claims court for damages (his car was deemed a total loss and the repair of over 7K is higher than the KBB worth of about 6.5K.

Please do. Sue her parents too, they are at fault for raising the precious snowflake..



Question: what is total brake failure and could this happen after driving 20 miles?

Think about the words "total brake failure" and see if you can come up with something.

Yes, it could happen.
Anything COULD happen.
But really...Did it?
What are the chances of it really happening here?

I want to know if the brakes work right now, after the accident....

I can think of 2 scenarios right now that would have the brakes fail, but also have them work again later....... one would definitely leave evidence, and the other might leave evidence.

But I bet nobody ever hit the brakes.

Did the police reconstruct the accident? What did they determine?
Were there skid marks?
Did any airbags blow?

And the biggie: Do the brakes work now?



Is not one liable for returning what one borrows in the same condition?

Duhhhhh.


Get the girls cell phone records.
I bet she was texting while driving.
(or someone in the car was and she was reading it)

 
Rep Power: 313

^ LoL

 
Rep Power: 229

why is the insurence company not seeing that the operator of the vehicle, the girl, destroyed the car. your son wasn't the one driving there for insurrence should cover the lose using the girl's insurence and increasing her rate. it's just like any insurence, if your son totaled the car, he'd pay the deductable and the insurence would cover the rest and his rate would go up. so why isn't her's?

i smell a troll.

 
Rep Power: 253

Unfortunately your son is responsible for anything that girl did. He lent out the car and he assumes risk for what the girl has done. Sound like it was NOT break failure but negligence on the girls part (Assuming she was at fault) Your son will probably just have to eat up the cost of the car. Lesson learned: dont lend your car to ANYONE. Especially a young person with little to no exprience behind the wheel.

 
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This is why I don't let people borrow my car!
My older sister rear ended someone, that's was the first and last time I let anyone in the driver seat except for me!

I agree with ezone, you should dig in the cellphone records.

 
Rep Power: 190

^lmao

Problem is there is no proof of anything... unless there are skid marks from hitting the brakes (that would show they work) at the last second. It's just he said, she said. Don't lend your car to anyone.

 
Rep Power: 352

highly doubt it it was a brake failure. any mech can take a look at it and see if its fine or not (they will be able to see a siezed piston or something)

the girl is trying to scam you guys and you need to take this to court. it is upon her to prove that it was a brake failure.

do you guys have full insurance on the car?

 
Rep Power: 352

i almost died reading this

 
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I see that this posting is from 2012 but the exact same thing happened to me a few days ago. I was approaching an intersection in downtown Toronto at about 20-30 km/hr in my 2015 Honda Civic. The traffic lights had just turned red so I wanted to stop the car. When I hit the brakes there was no resistance whatsoever and the car simply continued to roll. To prevent a multi-car accident or even hitting pedestrians or bikers I decided to swerve right into the empty sidewalk where I had seen an electric post and thought that would stop me. It did. When I pulled down the car my brakes were working but the right hand side of the car was totaled. People had a hard time believing my story, except for the open-minded mechanic although he had never heard of any such incident in all his years as a mechanic. I think I made a smart choice causing damage to the car only, avoiding any injuries. I am wondering if my insurance will hold ME responsible for something I had absolutely no control over.

 
Rep Power: 210

I've read that master cylinder's originally consisted of just one reservoir for all four axles and then later changed to a two reservoir system to avoid this (total loss of braking) scenario. One reservoir for front brakes and one reservoir for rear brakes. Here's the read: http://www.auto-repair-help.com/auto...r_cylinder.php

 
Rep Power: 518

No other car or persons involved......Of course it's your fault and you are held responsible. You, the operator, are always expected to be in control of your machinery at all times.

If there was snow/ice on the ground..........you were going too fast for conditions. No, wait.....you were going too fast for conditions, period.

If you were on your cell phone or texting......cops here take your phone and check it first thing.

This indicates the car did not have any brake failure.

I'm sure your insurance company will decide what to do and let you know.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yes, you are at fault. Your mechanic was being very nice to you, but ultimately dishonest.

Brakes on a car don't simply stop working one second, and then, after an accident, start working again. I don't know what happened in your situation, but ultimately you are at fault. Best of luck.

 
Rep Power: 0

​​​​​So many years after this on 1/13/2022 my husband had an eventful day. My friend took him to pick up our 07 Honda Civic hybrid from our mechanic, who did shocks and an alignment. He then drove to her house, picked her up to take her to her mechanic to pick up her vehicle.

They were travelling about 30mph, car 3 car lengths in front slammed on the breaks. My husband hit ours and nothing happened. Total break failure. 17.8 miles after leaving the mechanic.

My friend didn't believe him and got in the driver's seat post accident, pumped the breaks repeatedly, barely got any resistance. When I went to get belongings from the car Saturday, breaks went to the floor, virtually no resistance, and you could hear air hissing out as they were depressed.

She had us tow it to her mechanic. I told the shop it's at they need to have a mechanic check lines, I guess the booster too after reading this. Grill, probably radiator, hood, bumper, and support, maybe headlights are gone. (Headlights themselves are intact but appear unmounted).

​​​​​​Initially they were thinking it'd be a repair job. At this point I'm hoping it's a total loss. Doesn't have the highest blue book. This car has been nothing but a headache.

Posting for future readers.