"Brake check"

[Graham Kennedy]

So I watch a lot of youtube vids, and lately I've seen a few labelled "brake check". They seem to involve a car that pulls in front of another car or a truck and then slams on the brakes.

None of them really give much context to this, and I'm wondering if I'm missing something. Is this a common thing? Most of the vids seem to be American, is it some kind of thing people do there? If so, what's the reason exactly?

My best guess is that it's some sort of insurance scam. In the UK you're supposed to leave enough space between cars to stop if the car in front does, and one car rear-ending another is almost always considered to be the fault of the rear car. So I can see trying to get somebody to ram you so you can sue them. Is that it?

But then most comments seem to indicate that the forward driver who got hit has failed. So what is it?

No biggie, but it's puzzled me for a while now. Anybody with an answer?

[Mikey]

In the U.S. you’re SUPPOSED to leave enough room as well - two seconds behind the car in front of you is considered a good rule of thumb. I’m not familiar with the vids you mention, but a “brake check” is often considered to be a passive-aggressive response to someone tailgating you; i.e., if someone is too close a/o upset by your lack of speed, inconvenience them by reducing your speed even further or making them brake hard.

[Graham Kennedy]

Ahhh, that would make sense.

Maybe that happens here, just not to me - I leave big gaps! I'd never heard of it before.

[Bryan Moore]

In the U.S. you’re SUPPOSED to leave enough room as well - two seconds behind the car in front of you is considered a good rule of thumb. I’m not familiar with the vids you mention, but a “brake check” is often considered to be a passive-aggressive response to someone tailgating you; i.e., if someone is too close a/o upset by your lack of speed, inconvenience them by reducing your speed even further or making them brake hard.

While I'm not as well traveled as some of the other Americans on the board, I can say as a New Englander that this is quite prevalent in the Northeast from DC and North, as all stereotypes about drivers up here are pretty much true. My experiences in the Southeast and Texas are far different and the general flow of traffic is far more relaxed than Connecticut/Massachusetts/New York/New Jersey and the aggression or passive-aggression is a fraction of what we have up here.

[Mikey]

I can tell you that here on Dirty Jersey, we have a lot of idiosyncratic traffic patterns... and ZERO patience for out-of-state drivers who don’t understand them.

While in actuality it’s the eastern goldfinch, it’s been often said that the state bird of New Jersey is the flipped one.

[Angharrad]

So I watch a lot of youtube vids, and lately I've seen a few labelled "brake check". They seem to involve a car that pulls in front of another car or a truck and then slams on the brakes.

None of them really give much context to this, and I'm wondering if I'm missing something. Is this a common thing? Most of the vids seem to be American, is it some kind of thing people do there? If so, what's the reason exactly?

My best guess is that it's some sort of insurance scam. In the UK you're supposed to leave enough space between cars to stop if the car in front does, and one car rear-ending another is almost always considered to be the fault of the rear car. So I can see trying to get somebody to ram you so you can sue them. Is that it?

But then most comments seem to indicate that the forward driver who got hit has failed. So what is it?

No biggie, but it's puzzled me for a while now. Anybody with an answer?

While I haven't seen the videos I do know that there is a insurance scam where the car in front of you slams on it's brakes so you can't avoid hitting them. It usually involves another car beside you so you are boxed in and can't change lanes to avoid an accident. Then there are 'witnesses' to make it look like it was your fault.

[McAvoy]

I can tell you that here on Dirty Jersey, we have a lot of idiosyncratic traffic patterns... and ZERO patience for out-of-state drivers who don’t understand them.

While in actuality it’s the eastern goldfinch, it’s been often said that the state bird of New Jersey is the flipped one.

Damn straight.

[Reliant121]

You'll find just as many videos of this dotting the internet from England. Quite often they appear to be the result of passive aggressive fuckery on the part of a driver cutting someone up. Commonly it seems someone cuts up a HGV or something like that, the lorry driver beeps or something and then the offending cutter-upper does a 'brake check' cause he's an arse.

I'm far too lazy a driver for all that. Lots of clearance between me and the car in front and a very relaxed attitude to idiots. I'm hoping it'll extend my life at the end

[Captain Seafort]

Commonly it seems someone cuts up a HGV or something like that, the lorry driver beeps or something and then the offending cutter-upper does a 'brake check' cause he's an arse.

What sort of lunatic, even your average passive-aggressive fuckwit, brake tests a woofer? It doesn't take the world's greatest intellect to guess who's going to win the shoving match if the woofer doesn't react quickly enough.

[Reliant121]

Commonly it seems someone cuts up a HGV or something like that, the lorry driver beeps or something and then the offending cutter-upper does a 'brake check' cause he's an arse.

What sort of lunatic, even your average passive-aggressive fuckwit, brake tests a woofer? It doesn't take the world's greatest intellect to guess who's going to win the shoving match if the woofer doesn't react quickly enough.

This kind. And case in point, you are right

[Mikey]

Huh. On this side of the pond, “woofer” is a term for a bass component speaker for a sound system.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Huh. On this side of the pond, “woofer” is a term for a bass component speaker for a sound system.

Yeah, same. Sparked more than a moment of confusion on my part.

[Reliant121]

It might be an age or regional thing but I would agree with you two. I’ve only known vehicles like that as Lorries, Artics or HGVs.

[Mikey]

We refer to them as semis (short for semi-rigs) or tractor-trailers. If the word “lorry” is used at all, which is exceedingly rare, it’s in the traditional sense of a bent-axle lowered-deck wagon or wheeled platform like a dray.