Sudden Brake Failure - Crashed Into Building

[Geppetto]

This past Friday my wife and I were going to dinner and when I was parking the truck in front of the bistro where we planned on having dinner with friends the brakes suddenly failed as I was parking. I was not going very fast but when I stepped on the brake the pedal went to the floor and suddenly the truck jumped the curb. I was pumping the brakes as fast as I could and I think on the 3rd pump the brakes engaged but it was too late we had run into the store front damaging the truck and the store front of two businesses.

After the police and half of the FD showed up we determined the truck was drivable and since I only live about 5 miles from the bistro we decided to just drive home slowly. About half way home I had to make a left turn and when I was slowing down the brakes did the same thing again and again on the 3d or 4th pump the truck stopped with what I would call a hard stop and a grabbing sound in the brakes.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Pumping the brakes sounds like the correct thing to do. I was also taught to press on the emergency brake pedal, which I guess has faded into oblivion. What would happen if you pull on the parking brake button?

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[MavDan]

 

[DR_NC]

This past Friday my wife and I were going to dinner and when I was parking the truck in front of the bistro where we planned on having dinner with friends the brakes suddenly failed as I was parking. I was not going very fast but when I stepped on the brake the pedal went to the floor and suddenly the truck jumped the curb. I was pumping the brakes as fast as I could and I think on the 3rd pump the brakes engaged but it was too late we had run into the store front damaging the truck and the store front of two businesses.

After the police and half of the FD showed up we determined the truck was drivable and since I only live about 5 miles from the bistro we decided to just drive home slowly. About half way home I had to make a left turn and when I was slowing down the brakes did the same thing again and again on the 3d or 4th pump the truck stopped with what I would call a hard stop and a grabbing sound in the brakes.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Is there an EDR on Ford vehicles? That should record the brake, accelerator inputs for a few seconds before the crash.

 

[Okiedokie]

No response from the OP?

 

[Bob The Builder]

I believe him. The Maverick hybrid is not exactly world renown for being a trouble free vehicle. That is not to say everyone who owns one has had issues because that is never the case in life, but the vast majority of complaints and bitches with the Maverick here has been with the hybrid.

Very sad to hear this. Glad the OP is OK. I would get the truck fixed and get rid of it in a New York minute. After that escapade I would have zero confidence in it.

 

[Bob The Builder]

No response from the OP?

After some here calling him a liar, do you blame him?

 

[Baloo]

yup i'd get it towed for nearest Ford dealer and call it a day.
Now he will call the dealer tell them what happened (including driving it home) and they will tell him to get lost and leave it up to insurance.

Getting it towed there right after the fact at least makes it more legit.

The police should have had it towed to a brake repair facility or the impound lot.

They would also be liable if involved in another incident because just as the original poster they knew there was an issue.

Now, when I was a police officer, rarely would someone claim the brakes went out after learning the vehicle was being impounded or towed to a repair facility it suddenly be another reason the crash occurred.

 

[Ponyprez]

Glad that it was only property damage, and no one was injured. I have to join the group that said it should be towed after an incident like that. I'm not sure if the electronics could override hydraulic pressure but to me it sounds like a failing Master cylinder where it randomly allows the seals to fail and the fluid bypasses those internal seals. I've repaired that in older cars a few times. Usually, the brake fluid remains full or near full.

 

[CajunMick]

OMG! Maybe computer lost couple electrons?
Can sense another recall in the pipeline.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

'Unintended' acceleration....

Sadly,
This could have also been the cause.
I'm not saying that it was, but also it cannot be ruled out.
There is case studies showing this happens.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7351190/#:~:text=Compared to those of younger,in serious accidents [6].

In any case the cops were derelict in letting Old Sarge drive his truck back home with faulty brakes endangering him and anybody else on the road.

 

[TheSEARCH]

Another reason I Hate electric parking/Emergency brake. Had it had a handle it could have been pulled before crash. BUT finding that silly button and apply that no way.

A lot of guesses on what happened . I would hope he posts what dealer finds.

Many questions. like Did pedal go to floor? Have you checked brake fluid?

Now when Mav first came out it had the brake grabbing thing at slow speeds like OP was doing and some said put pressure on brake pedal BUT mav didn't stop them but then suddenly stopped. I have a 2023 made in July 2023 never had that issue. Could it be that is what happened. .

 

[oysterville]

Maybe the officer didn't think that failure to stop was on the part of the truck?

 

[Waterick]

The police should have had it towed to a brake repair facility or the impound lot.

They would also be liable if involved in another incident because just as the original poster they knew there was an issue.

Now, when I was a police officer, rarely would someone claim the brakes went out after learning the vehicle was being impounded or towed to a repair facility it suddenly be another reason the crash occurred.

I suspect the authorities on the scene really believed it was operator error when everything seemed to be ok with the vehicle. I agree that they still should have had the vehicle towed to err on the side of safety until the vehicle was checked out. The second occurrence does validate the OP's claim of a malfunction.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Maybe

 

[MakinDoForNow]

OMG! Maybe computer lost couple electrons?
Can sense another recall in the pipeline.

Aaarrrggghhh Matey the "Electron Twin Recall".

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