Driving safely will go a long way toward helping you avoid crashes, such as this. But, it's just as important to have good brakes when you need them. This is the time of year in Wonder Lake to have your brakes checked.

You approach a red light, move your foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal and gradually apply pressure. The vehicle begins to slow as you smoothly come to a stop behind the white line on Wonder Lake Road. In front of you, cars are zipping by on Route 120.

It’s a good thing you stopped. Imagine if you hit the brake pedal and, instead of feeling the increase of resistance as you applied pressure, the pedal simply fell to the floor. What would you do? Would you have time to use the emergency brake? Would you enter the flow of cross traffic just in time for someone to hit you broadside while they were doing 70 or 80 mph?

That could be bad. It could be very bad. Of course, you could possibly avoid driving into cross traffic by steering the car into a tree instead. But that’s not a good way to start a day either. Either way, hopefully, you and your loved ones are around to meet the Wonder Lake paramedics when they arrive.

What it comes down to is that, though we tend to take our brakes for granted, we sure want them when we need them. Properly operating brakes are essential to safely driving on the roadways.

Considering, when did you last have your brakes checked? It doesn’t take long to check your brakes. And, once you have them checked, then you know – you know you should be able to count on your brakes when you need them.

Of course, you still want to drive safely. You still want to leave enough room between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you. You don’t want to come screaming to a stop at lights and stop signs. The odds may be in your favor that your brakes will work but you don’t want to bet your life, or the lives of your loved ones, that the brakes will function as expected.

Checking the brakes doesn’t take a long time. You can ask your auto repair technician to check the brakes while you have the oil changed. It’s a negligible inconvenience that will offer priceless peace of mind next time you leave your Wonder Lake driveway.