Accident caused by wet braking problem(long)
03-29-2000, 07:45 PM
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Accident caused by wet braking problem(long)
So I was cruising up 95 North this morning following my daily commute(30 miles). I'd noticed that it had rained during the night and the roads were slick but really thought nothing of it. Traffic was moderate...I was following a pickup truck in the high speed lane going 70-75. The distance between myself and the truck was typical for 95 rush hour...large enough not to be tailgating but also little enough not to let anyone cut me off.
I was distracted for a split second by a passing car and by the time my eyes returned forward, the trucks taillights were bright red and getting closer fast. I slammed on my brakes only to find that my $28K automobile just wasn't stopping. By the time my brakes grabbed, it was too late and I slid into the truck while we were both still moving. The force of the impact wasn't so bad except for the fact that his bumper was at the height of my grill.
My grill was smashed back to my radiator, my hood was crumpled in and up, and my front bumper was badly scraped. The car was still running smoothly so I pulled over into the breakdown lane. However, after a few minutes of idling I noticed light steam or smoke billowing from under my hood. I'm hoping this is just a cracked radiator but just to be careful I had my car towed back to my dealer(50 miles) in quattro loving flat-bed style. I have yet to get an estimate but I'm expecting somewhere around $3,000. If the engine repairs are more extensive, this number could easily be more. Can't wait to see my insurance bill next month...
Anyway, I strongly feel that an expensive luxury car such as the audi a4 should not have such a serious wet braking problem. When I apply the brakes there should not be a 1 or 2 second delay before they bite. In some cases, this could mean the difference between life and death. Luckily it wasn't actually still raining when this happened or my car would be completely f**ked up.
What does it take for Audi to acknowledge this serious problem and fix it?? Does anyone think there is any possibility I could get Audi to pay for some of my repairs? Has anyone shown their dealer/repair shop this problem on a rainy day and received a positive response? It's absolutely rediculous!
1.8TQMS APR V3
I was distracted for a split second by a passing car and by the time my eyes returned forward, the trucks taillights were bright red and getting closer fast. I slammed on my brakes only to find that my $28K automobile just wasn't stopping. By the time my brakes grabbed, it was too late and I slid into the truck while we were both still moving. The force of the impact wasn't so bad except for the fact that his bumper was at the height of my grill.
My grill was smashed back to my radiator, my hood was crumpled in and up, and my front bumper was badly scraped. The car was still running smoothly so I pulled over into the breakdown lane. However, after a few minutes of idling I noticed light steam or smoke billowing from under my hood. I'm hoping this is just a cracked radiator but just to be careful I had my car towed back to my dealer(50 miles) in quattro loving flat-bed style. I have yet to get an estimate but I'm expecting somewhere around $3,000. If the engine repairs are more extensive, this number could easily be more. Can't wait to see my insurance bill next month...
Anyway, I strongly feel that an expensive luxury car such as the audi a4 should not have such a serious wet braking problem. When I apply the brakes there should not be a 1 or 2 second delay before they bite. In some cases, this could mean the difference between life and death. Luckily it wasn't actually still raining when this happened or my car would be completely f**ked up.
What does it take for Audi to acknowledge this serious problem and fix it?? Does anyone think there is any possibility I could get Audi to pay for some of my repairs? Has anyone shown their dealer/repair shop this problem on a rainy day and received a positive response? It's absolutely rediculous!
1.8TQMS APR V3
03-29-2000, 08:21 PM
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Truely sorry for your missfortune, but I'm going to have to say driver error. You were too close.
My guess is you were too close for the speed you were driving. Even with the slight delay, if you hit someone, I'd guess you were too close given your speed and conditions. Not that I was there, but I know exactly how the A-4s stop, and they stop a dam fast! Especially if you hit the brakes Hard.
Don't take this wrong, but don't blame it on the car if you made some judgement errors.
Sorry again for your missfourtune.
Jake
03-29-2000, 08:32 PM
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Re: Accident caused by wet braking problem(long)
I heard a couple of folks talk about the "wet braking problem" what gives with this? Is it present on the MY 2000 cars? Can anyone point me to more information?
03-29-2000, 08:50 PM
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I'm going to have to agree with Jake on this one.
You need to drive correctly for the conditions... regardless of what the traffic around you is doing, and regardless of how good you think your braking capabilities <b><i>should</b></i> be, you need to leave more than one car length (from your description) of distance, especially at that speed.
Sorry it happened to you, but I don't think that wet braking is the problem, it was pilot error.
Sorry it happened to you, but I don't think that wet braking is the problem, it was pilot error.
03-29-2000, 09:50 PM
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I do not agree with others
It can be a driver error or not. We do not know it for sure. However I would expect that a $30000 car would have sufficient wet breaking ability to prevent that accident from happening.
(unless you do not expect Porsche performance from your brakes). This car sucks in wet and I have not seen any other car with this problem to this extend. When you cruise for a while in wet and hit your brakes, there is a huge delay. Before I changed my brake pads, the delay was well over 3 seconds and it was scary.
(unless you do not expect Porsche performance from your brakes). This car sucks in wet and I have not seen any other car with this problem to this extend. When you cruise for a while in wet and hit your brakes, there is a huge delay. Before I changed my brake pads, the delay was well over 3 seconds and it was scary.
03-29-2000, 10:21 PM
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I'd say he was too close for *dry* roads.
If there's not enough room in front of you for another car to merge in, then at 70-75 MPH you wouldn't have the time to react if the car in front of you had to hit their brakes. You would hit the car in front of you on wet or dry roads, IMHO.
Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that you had this accident. I hope you can work things out. One other bit of advice: if you talk to the police or insurance company about this accident, don't refer to the lane you were in as "the high speed lane". You will immediately be told that all lanes have the same speed limit, and the last thing you want at that point is another lecture when all you really are trying to do is describe the incident.
Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that you had this accident. I hope you can work things out. One other bit of advice: if you talk to the police or insurance company about this accident, don't refer to the lane you were in as "the high speed lane". You will immediately be told that all lanes have the same speed limit, and the last thing you want at that point is another lecture when all you really are trying to do is describe the incident.
