The People's Court: Should I Pay for New Brakes?

[Umbran]

I have to put something on my seat every time I use my parking brake because otherwise I don't remember until the little light warns me.

Honestly, if your parking brake is in good shape to begin with, the resistance should be quite noticeable.

 

[nerfherder]

I am pretty liberal and to me this kind of personal responsibility is a legal fiction designed so the state can apportion damages when somebody gets in a crash. We can't really expect every individual to go through some kind of pre-flight checklist before setting out in their car.

Whereas I'm of the opinion that people should take personal responsibility for their actions. If you want to drive/pilot a vehicle, then it's your responsibility to make reasonable checks that a) you know how to do it (including knowing how all the controls work!) and b) you do reasonable checks that it's in a safe state, so that it won't crash and kill or injure you, your passengers, or anyone else. If you're driving knowing that the warning lights aren't working, then you should check what you can manually.

However, I did ask about the legal aspects and that's probably the way it would be ruled.

Yes -- I was not looking for support for the idea of not paying, I knew I would have to apologize and make it right even if I wasn't to blame.

Yeah, I did deliberately split my response out that way.

I'm really confused. After my sis told me about the rotors I went Googling, "range rover," "parking brake on," and I found several stories about people who did this. But now when I Google again, or look back through my history, there's nothing there! But it wasn't a dream -- the searches I did on "jetta parking brake on" are still there, I remember being interested that my car didn't have as many horror stories as the Range Rovers. Well anyway, my brother in law claims that the parking brake only has a "locking mechanism for the transfer flywheel" and can't wear out the brakes at all, but something electrical is wrong instead.

I'm sorry this isn't making sense -- I thought I'd confirmed with Google that wearing out your pads is a common thing from leaving the parking brake on, and I knew my BiL took a different car to work because the brakes weren't working right.

I've tried a few google searches myself, to try and help clarify for you, but I'm turning up nothing. I did find out that newer Range Rovers (MY06, I think) now have an electronic parking brake that releases automatically when you pull away - cold comfort for your sister in this case! How old is her car? Has your sister actually taken the car in to a garage, or is he guessing what may be wrong based on how it now drives?

Anyway, it's too bad all the legal responsibility seems to be falling on my sister because her behavior is the only one that seems like an innocent victim to me.

I wouldn't let her off quite so easily - driving around in two tons of vehicle with the warning lights shot is taking an unnecessary risk, in my opinion.

In a moral/getting-on-with-family way, it sounds like the blame is about 50/50 to me. Your offer to pay for the brakes was a generous one, and I applaud you for it. I hope it doesn't turn out to be more expensive than first thought. A Range Rover is an expensive car, but I don't know how much parts are for it (a lot of parts are from old, cheap, common British cars, so tend to be cheap over here).

 

[Pbartender]

Honestly, if your parking brake is in good shape to begin with, the resistance should be quite noticeable.

Yeah, it really depends on the car and its brakes...

The two cars I own now, neither of them will move an inch, if my parking brake is engaged. On the other hand, the first beater I ever owned could be driven all day long with the parking brake on, and you'd never notice the difference.

The corollary to what Umbran said is, if you don't notice resistance when your parking brake is on then it needs to be fixed, because its not doing its job.

 

[Algolei]

I am pretty liberal and to me this kind of personal responsibility is a legal fiction designed so the state can apportion damages when somebody gets in a crash. We can't really expect every individual to go through some kind of pre-flight checklist before setting out in their car. However, I did ask about the legal aspects and that's probably the way it would be ruled.

I'm practically a communist, but I still know that personal responsibility is important. We SHOULD really expect every individual to go through some kind of pre-flight checklist before setting out in their car, but we don't. Unfortunately, no one bothers to learn what's necessary anymore, and no one enforces that learning. Laxness has infiltrated into our lives to the point where we think it's responsible to set a large metal object into motion and direct it around others at a high rate of speed. Rules of the road have become suggestions. The police don't even hand out tickets for going through stop signs around here anymore, because "everyone does it and nobody thinks it's wrong."

Anyway, it's too bad all the legal responsibility seems to be falling on my sister because her behavior is the only one that seems like an innocent victim to me.

Don't confuse innocence with ignorance. She drove the car with the parking brake on. It doesn't matter who put it on, she's supposed to check it, even though she apparently doesn't know that. After all, what if it had been set on purpose? What if you had driven it last, and had put on the parking brake to prevent the car from rolling?

Too many people don't know how to drive anymore, because we don't teach them anymore and/or don't enforce it anymore.

 

[nerfherder]

So, did the rotors need changing, and how much did it end up costing you?

 

[Noumenon]

I know I didn't have to pay anything. I don't remember if it was because it was just a bad switch in the parking brake or it just wasn't much damaged at all. They got divorced since then, so I can't check.

 

[nerfherder]

Oh, well, I guess it's good that it didn't cost you anything, but I'm sorry to hear about your sister's divorce.