Fools, little children, and people whose brakes go out:

[Ellendra]

Still coming down from the adrenalin, my hands are shaking and its hard to type. 10 minutes ago I was in a car accident.

Was less than 1 block from my house, heading out to run errands. As I approached a stop sign I hit the brakes. There was a click, and the truck kept moving.

Put my full weight on the brake pedal, even glanced to make sure I was hitting the rigfht pedal, it kept moving.

Tried switching it into park or reverse, it kept moving.

(Couldn't get to the emergency brake, its in a weird place, and I just don't bend that way)

Accross the T was a hill, the truck barely noticed the curb. Two pine trees, spaced perfectly apart, caught my truck like a net and held it there. Didn't even break the branches.

THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

[Shirley]

Oh my word... are you ok?!! I imagine very very shocked for starters. Thank goodness for those trees, and someone was surely watching over you!

[Ellendra]

I'm ok, not even a scratch. The police said there was so little damage I didn't even need to fill out a report. The insurance company was understanding and supportive. The neighbor whose trees I parked in helped me get the truck back to the street to park.

You couldn't coordinate this kind of an accident without a full studio stunt crew! Everything happened perfectly.

Even the weather was right. I had been planning to go out to my land, which would have meant going the other direction, to the busier intersection with brick walls at every turn. But, it was raining, so I decided to just run to the bank instead.

[StripyPixieSocks]

Good grief! Glad you're ok...thank goodness it was raining and you didn't hit anything serious!

Any idea on what caused the brakes to fail?

Ye gawds (((HUGS)))

[Annpan]

Glad to hear you are OK... yikes!

[mrsflibble]

omg it's good to know you're ok!!

[shell]

heavens just reading this gives me the jitters,praise God your safe,

[QuakerBear]

Oh my goodness. What a fright. Am very glad to hear you're safe though.

[old tree man]

Just read this post i hope you're ok,that must have been so scary, metal can be mended we take alot longer to heal.

Russ

[Thomzo]

Thank goodness you are safe. A big hug to help you get over the shock.

Cheers
Zoe

[gigglybug]

Good to hear you are alright.

How frightening!!

[LBR]

Glad you came through all right. Hope you're getting some super-duper brakes. Any news of why they failed?

[Wombat]

Just wanted to echo the sentiments of everyone here. And soundly curse the idiots who could design a car with a non-accessible emergency brake - (expletive deleted!)

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

I agree! Glad you are OK Ellendra!

[Ellendra]

Thanks everybody

Just heard from the mechanic today, my brake line broke. That alone isn't hard to fix, but they said the springs on my truck were so rusted they were afraid to put it up on the jack. Replacing the springs and fixing the brake line and all the other repairs they want to do (I was numb by that point) will cost around $2000. There are used cars for sale less than that, I'm going to see if I can find someone wanting to get rid of their "fuel-hog". I need a sturdy truck that can haul stuff and go off-road, such vehicles are being unloaded left and right. If I can find one around the same price as the repairs I'll go that way.

My truck is 13 years old, and has stood up to some very rough conditions, including accidents, blizzards, and attempted break-ins. What more can you ask of a vehicle?