John C. Glennon, Chartered has the capabilities of performing complete testing of any automotive braking system including hydraulic, air, electric, vacuum, and serge. Our brake testing will identify both catastrophic failures and brake deficiencies. We are sensitive to concerns that the vehicle's post-accident condition could be altered during testing. Therefore, the testing we perform is structured in a way that allows us to obtain results without altering the condition of the suspect system. For more information on airbrake testing, click here. To link to our automotive expert, click here.

What is not well understood about brake failures is that true catastrophic brake failures are rare. Brake systems on modern vehicles are required to have various fail-safes mechanisms that reduce the likelihood of complete failure. Generally speaking, vehicles have two separate braking systems whereby, in the event of a failure, only some of the vehicle's brakes will fail to operate. This allows the driver to stop, but will require a greater distance to do so in a panic situation.

More commonly, braking deficiencies are what affects braking performance. Braking deficiencies are things such as oil-contaminated brakes, misadjusted brakes, etc. Vehicles with braking deficiencies, in most cases, will still have the ability to stop but will also require longer distances. Under normal stopping situations, a vehicle with a partial failure or braking deficiencies may develop sufficient for braking in normal driving situations. However, a vehicle in this condition placed in a high-demand panic situation will not be able to slow or stop as quickly as the driver would expect. This failure to supply the demanded braking is often perceived as a catastrophic failure by the driver.