There are certain things you take for granted in life. These are things you never have to think about that just happen. For example, the sun rises every day without you having to wonder if it will; the mail magically appears in your mailbox every day; your dog or cat comes running to see you when you walk in after being out all day. It's nice when things that are supposed to happen, do happen. Right?

One of the things that I apparently have been taking for granted is that whenever I step on my car's brakes, the car slows down and even stops if that's what I want it to do. I never think about it or worry that the brakes may not work, they just work. Well... not yesterday, at least not to degree that I assumed that they would.

I was heading down Route 7 into Pittsfield from Lenox on my way home after getting some lunch. There's a nice little hill you drive down as you are passing the Pittsfield Country Club on the right.

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I don't know about you, but every so often when I am driving downhill, I occasionally step on the brakes. Usually, 10 times out of 10, they work as expected. This one time though, they didn't. Okay, I am exaggerating slightly, but they failed to the point that I was very scared for a few seconds that the car wasn't going to stop. When I applied the usual amount of pressure, the car didn't slow. So, I added more, but I was still moving at about the same speed that I was before I started to apply the brake. I had to press the brake pedal all the way to the floor before the car would slow to a stop and even then, it was iffy.

I'm not really sure what the moral of the story is, other than to make sure that I get my vehicle serviced regularly, and I suppose to not take my brakes for granted!

Oh... I almost forgot. I obviously made it home safely. You probably figured that out.

Have you had a similar experience?

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