What to Do If Your Brakes Fail: Car Emergencies in Canada

Photo: Michael Gil, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If your brakes fail in Canada, the Ontario MTO handbook says to pump the brake pedal to try to restore pressure, then apply the parking brake gently but firmly while holding the release button. Saskatchewan’s SGI handbook says the opposite about pumping: on a modern dual-circuit system, do not pump, push the pedal much harder, use the parking brake without locking the rear wheels and shift to a lower gear. Every handbook agrees on the last step: once you are stopped, do not drive on. Call for help.

That split is a good reminder that provincial handbooks do not always agree. This guide sets out what each one says for the common car emergencies, so you can learn your own province’s version for the knowledge test and know why the advice differs.

What to do if your brakes fail

Total brake failure is rare. The SGI and NWT manuals both explain that cars have a two-circuit (dual-circuit) hydraulic system, so if one half fails the other still gives some stopping power. You will usually see the brake warning light and feel that you need to push much harder.

Whatever your handbook says, two points are shared: get the car stopped off the road, and do not drive it again until a qualified technician has checked the brakes.

Threshold braking vs ABS braking

Threshold braking means braking as hard as you can without locking the wheels, so you can still steer. It is mainly a technique for cars without anti-lock brakes (ABS).

Without ABS

• Ontario: brake as hard as you can until a wheel starts to lock, ease off slightly to release it, then press again. Do not pump. Keep going until you reach the speed you want.
• Saskatchewan: the SGI handbook adds shifting to neutral (or pressing the clutch) first, then tracking the point just before lock-up until you stop. It warns the technique is almost impossible if you panic, and describes four-wheel lock braking as the fallback.
• Manitoba: steady pressure without locking the wheels.
• NWT: steady, hard pressure short of locking, easing off if the wheels lock.

With ABS

• Ontario: press the pedal hard and let the system control wheel lock-up. Expect pulsing in the pedal and do not release it. ABS is there to help you keep steering, so don’t count on it to stop you sooner; that depends on the car and the surface.
• NWT: apply steady hard pressure; do not pump.
• Saskatchewan: with ABS, brake hard and steer where you want to go.
• Manitoba: check your owner’s manual, as the amount of steering control varies by system.

Not sure if your car has ABS? Look for the ABS light on the dashboard when you start the car, or check the owner’s manual. See our car controls guide for the warning lights.

If the accelerator sticks

1. Ontario: try to lift the pedal by slipping your foot under it. Never reach down with your hands while moving.
2. Turn on your hazard lights and shift to neutral (Ontario) or neutral / press the clutch (Saskatchewan).
3. Slow down and stop as soon as it is safe, preferably off the road.
4. Turn off the ignition. SGI says you can then try to free the pedal with your feet. Ontario says not to drive away and to call for help.

If a tire blows out

A blow-out causes strong steering pull and vibration. The handbooks agree on the core steps:

• Hold the wheel firmly and keep looking and steering where you want to go.
• Take your foot off the gas and let the car slow down. NWT: resist the urge to brake straight away. Manitoba: brake only once speed has dropped enough to keep control.
• SGI adds that gentle braking improves stability, and that a rear blow-out can make the back fishtail: do not over-correct.
• Manitoba: if the blow-out pushes you onto the shoulder, do not try to get back onto the pavement; let the car coast to a stop.
• Stop well off the road and turn on your hazard lights before changing the tire.

If your headlights fail at night

• Check the headlight switch (Ontario, NWT) and the dimmer switch (SGI).
• If they stay out, turn on your hazard lights (SGI also mentions parking lights).
• Slow down while holding your course, then pull off the road in a safe place and call for help. Ontario reminds you it is illegal to drive at night without lights.

If your wheels go off the pavement

This is where learners most often make things worse by jerking the wheel. The handbooks agree: do less, not more.

1. Grip the wheel firmly and do not panic.
2. Take your foot off the gas. Avoid heavy braking; if you must brake, do it gently (NWT, Manitoba).
3. Steer straight along the shoulder while you slow down. Do not try to get straight back on.
4. When you are slow, in control and the road is clear, steer back on. SGI describes turning the wheel left and almost immediately counter-steering as the front wheel comes onto the road, then straightening. Ontario says be ready to correct your steering once all wheels are back on.
5. Manitoba warns not to overshoot the centre line as you return.

SGI adds one exception: if you leave the road at a critical spot, such as just before a bridge, treat the return like an emergency lane change: steer, counter-steer, straighten.

Going into a ditch

The SGI handbook is the only one with a ditch section. Its advice: do not brake hard, do not turn the wheel sharply and do not try to climb back onto the road, because those actions cause rollovers. Instead, drive down the ditch, steering gently down the slope, staying off the brake and easing off the gas. It says the main cause of rollovers is trying to return to the road too early, and a tow is a small price compared with rolling the car.

If you break down on a highway

Here the handbooks give genuinely different advice on staying in the car.

The difference makes sense: on a patrolled freeway with traffic passing close by, Ontario prefers you stay belted in a locked car; the NWT manual has occupants wait at a safe spot away from the vehicle. Follow your own province’s handbook for the test, and use judgment on the day. In winter, staying with the vehicle for warmth matters: see winter driving in Canada.

Quick comparison: who says what

BC, Manitoba and other provinces

• British Columbia: ICBC’s chapter on emergency strategies is covered in emergency strategies for BC drivers.
• Manitoba: the MPI handbook covers blow-outs, running off the pavement, emergency braking and disabled vehicles as summarized above.
• Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, Yukon and Nunavut: check your provincial handbook. The principles above (stay calm, ease off the gas, steer smoothly, stop well off the road) are common to the provincial handbooks.

Practise before you need it

Ontario suggests new drivers practise a parking-brake emergency stop and ABS emergency braking with a qualified driving instructor under controlled conditions. That is safer than finding out how your car reacts on a highway. After any emergency involving a collision, see collision reporting rules by province, and for the full licensing path start at learning to drive in Canada.

Sources

• Government of Ontario, “The Official MTO Driver’s Handbook: Dealing with emergencies” (ontario.ca)
• Government of Ontario, “The Official MTO Driver’s Handbook: Driving at night and in bad weather” (ontario.ca)
• SGI, “Saskatchewan Driver’s Handbook” (sgi.sk.ca)
• Government of the Northwest Territories, “NWT Driver’s Manual: Basic” (idmv.inf.gov.nt.ca)
• Manitoba Public Insurance, “Manitoba Driver’s Handbook: Blowouts, Running off the Pavement, Emergency Braking, Disabled Vehicle” (apps.mpi.mb.ca)
• Government of Alberta, “Driver guides” (alberta.ca)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Light Vehicle Antilock Brake System Research Program, Task 4” (nhtsa.gov)