I was watching Echo this weekend and I got really stuck on the scene where the brake lines are cut, causing the accident that kills Maya's mom. Cutting the brake lines is such a common sabotage it's a basically a cliché. But it's been awhile since I've seen it used, so this is the first time I've really thought about it.
So like, how is this actually an effective method to killing someone? Because I'm not an expert on cars. But I have 100% actually had my brake line break while driving (0 stars - do not recommend). Not for something as exciting as a mob hit, just an old car and the universe screwing with me (long story).
And when my brake lines broke on I immediately had no brakes. Like, I had to go another 300-ish feet to another intersection from when they snapped, and I did it cautiously because I was freaked out (but didn't know what was wrong yet). And I basically slowly glided into the lane with little to no braking capabilities. I did the same with a parking space when I drove it to both the nearest place I could reasonably pull over (and funnily enough, my destination at the time).
So with that in mind here's what I've been wondering:
Are brake lines when they're cut actually not cut all the way through? Presumably leaving some braking capabilities until you get to a more dangerous, high traffic area, actually causing your death.
Are a lot of people living in areas where they truly don't have to brake until they get to high traffic areas?
Is a significant portion of the population driving without using their brakes in places they probably should? For instance, I use my brakes at least twice before any significant road either leaving my place or my parents' place (one with a parking lot, the other with street parking). And I brake as soon as I switch from Park to either Drive or Reverse, and again at a stop sign to get me to a larger road.
Or has this become a cliché to the point it's considered standard practice but wouldn't actually work in real life? And writers don't realize this and keep feeding into this actually unrealistic cliché.
Because I truly don't understand how people are making it to large enough roads to actually get in a serious, deadly accident. So okay, sure if you live on a major road or a big hill, that could go real bad real fast. But if someone cut my brake lines I'd make it to maybe one small intersection with minimal traffic. More likely, I'd get into a fender bender with a nearby parked car or mailbox. Maya and her mom made it all the way out of their house in the middle of nowhere to a decent-sized intersection, with a reasonable amount of driving (from what little I recall) and that makes zero sense to me.