This is odd since most cars require stepping down on the brake pedal to start the car. Even my UTV (side-by-side) requires this. If my foot starts sinking down it will be obvious my brakes are failing. Cutting just enough into the last part of the brake line that is flexible hydraulic line to burst after a few miles would require quite some skill and a lot of practice. These lines have anywhere from 800 to 2000 pounds per square inch of pressure. Detailed high resolution pictures of the cut would be useful.
For what it's worth if you lose your brakes, downshift repeatedly until you are slow enough to find a softer landing zone. Rubbing tires up against the curb if there are no cars, bushes, rubbing up against the side of a hill, soft soil if available. If your car does not have an option to do this trade it in.
[Edit] I am not defending Elon or his orbiter zealots. Crazy evil stuff happens all the time but I think we are due some pictures and videos of the evidence. So far all we have is a story and things someone could have done to their own car. There are also a high prevalence of ring cameras that could capture his visitors.
Removing the airbag impact sensor and then rewiring it to bypass the fault detection, without triggering the airbags, is also indicative of someone who has extensive experience in something no one should normally have experience in.
That's shitbox-101 level stuff (if you're in a dumb state where they'd rather you monkey with stuff to turn a dash light off than just rock the light).
Many cars (especially ICE cars) may not have operational brake boost when you first get in to them — the vacuum that the power brakes rely on can easily be gone. So you step on the brakes without assist, then you start the engine, and then you have power brakes after a second or so.
I can easily imagine that stepping on a brake pedal with cut lines and no assist doesn’t feel that weird.
Also, plenty of people are not really tuned in to how their cars feel.
Many cars (especially ICE cars) may not have operational brake boost when you first get in to them
I warm up my engine, to the point of annoying armchair quarterbacks on HN. If my brake line was cut it would be very obvious within seconds. Exception would be a partial cut that leave a millimeter of line not cut but that would take some serious skill and practice.
Okay, good on you, but do you think every other person does this as well? I wasn't even aware warming up the engine would change my brakes until this thread. Honestly I thought the brake pedal was electronically connected to the actual brakes too so I didn't expect you could feel a cut line either.
Depending on the model it just requires activation of the brake light switch, which is a very light touch. And if it's an EV or PHEV with blended braking you're not pushing against the master cylinder anyway.
You are right to be skeptical here. Brake lines are just rubber hydraulic lines and fail in "normal ways" frequently. Without ANY forensic details on "the cut" it is very likely coincidence going viral "because Elon"
> I think we are due some pictures and videos of the evidence.
Yes, they should definitely prioritize posting pictures that only a fraction of a fraction of people will be able to understand or interpret at all, solely so that the people who want to pretend the accumulated things in the story didn't actually occur (or aren't that bad) can point to things they don't understand to naysay them. Brilliant.
My car doesn't require stepping on the brake to start but this car does sound like a newer one with weird "features" like that. I think the following car modifications indicate maliciousness and competency in the sabotage that could explain lack of alerting the driver,
>Since then, Berulis has laid low. He filed a police report, included in the suit and viewed by WIRED, and had the car seen by a mechanic who, according to the report, found “that the driver-side front impact/airbag sensor had also been removed but noted that the remaining wires had been spliced together, completing the circuit in a manner that prevented the vehicle from detecting or logging the missing component, while also preventing the vehicle from activating its safety protocols, alerting the driver, or engaging limp mode.” The police report also indicates that fingerprints had been found on Berulis’ car.
> and had the car seen by a mechanic who, according to the report, found “that the driver-side front impact/airbag sensor had also been removed but noted that the remaining wires had been spliced together, completing the circuit in a manner that prevented the vehicle from detecting or logging the missing component, while also preventing the vehicle from activating its safety protocols, alerting the driver, or engaging limp mode.
It’s quite obvious that this job was done by a professional if the allegations are true.
And I’m not personally about to doubt that our current government wouldn’t stoop to that level.
Now if only somebody involved in DOGE had all sorts of connections to people highly experienced with cars... maybe even by running a major carmaker himself?
"Scan this QR code with your mobile device to verify you are human. reCAPTCHA protects your privacy and does not share your details with this website or app."
Is that a new recaptcha thing? I've never seen that before.
Yeah there's been some debate about it in the news, because only a certified device can approve it, meaning this takes away any open-source platform to prove you're a human
It's pretty hard (probably nigh on impossible in the urban greater DC area) to make it out of your driveway/street without pressing the brake pedal enough to know you have an at least somewhat functional system.
The airbag system mods are pretty standard shitbox stuff. System goes off for whatever reason. Car is repaired. Sensors get tricked/fudged along the way because the owner doesn't want to put the money in (probably not worth it). Newer systems are more in depth and obnoxious to deal with so reading between the lines this is an older car which kinda also explains the brake thing.
This is odd since most cars require stepping down on the brake pedal to start the car. Even my UTV (side-by-side) requires this. If my foot starts sinking down it will be obvious my brakes are failing. Cutting just enough into the last part of the brake line that is flexible hydraulic line to burst after a few miles would require quite some skill and a lot of practice. These lines have anywhere from 800 to 2000 pounds per square inch of pressure. Detailed high resolution pictures of the cut would be useful.
For what it's worth if you lose your brakes, downshift repeatedly until you are slow enough to find a softer landing zone. Rubbing tires up against the curb if there are no cars, bushes, rubbing up against the side of a hill, soft soil if available. If your car does not have an option to do this trade it in.
[Edit] I am not defending Elon or his orbiter zealots. Crazy evil stuff happens all the time but I think we are due some pictures and videos of the evidence. So far all we have is a story and things someone could have done to their own car. There are also a high prevalence of ring cameras that could capture his visitors.
Removing the airbag impact sensor and then rewiring it to bypass the fault detection, without triggering the airbags, is also indicative of someone who has extensive experience in something no one should normally have experience in.
That's shitbox-101 level stuff (if you're in a dumb state where they'd rather you monkey with stuff to turn a dash light off than just rock the light).
Many cars (especially ICE cars) may not have operational brake boost when you first get in to them — the vacuum that the power brakes rely on can easily be gone. So you step on the brakes without assist, then you start the engine, and then you have power brakes after a second or so.
I can easily imagine that stepping on a brake pedal with cut lines and no assist doesn’t feel that weird.
Also, plenty of people are not really tuned in to how their cars feel.
Many cars (especially ICE cars) may not have operational brake boost when you first get in to them
I warm up my engine, to the point of annoying armchair quarterbacks on HN. If my brake line was cut it would be very obvious within seconds. Exception would be a partial cut that leave a millimeter of line not cut but that would take some serious skill and practice.
Okay, good on you, but do you think every other person does this as well? I wasn't even aware warming up the engine would change my brakes until this thread. Honestly I thought the brake pedal was electronically connected to the actual brakes too so I didn't expect you could feel a cut line either.
Depending on the model it just requires activation of the brake light switch, which is a very light touch. And if it's an EV or PHEV with blended braking you're not pushing against the master cylinder anyway.
So what you're saying is, we need to abolish ICE and go electric?
I've never needed to press the brake pedal until my current car. Just the clutch pedal. It's my first automatic.
It also doesn't require a hard press, just enough,
I think it'd be fairly straight forward to damage the rubber hoses near the calipers so that failure was imminent but not immediate.
You are right to be skeptical here. Brake lines are just rubber hydraulic lines and fail in "normal ways" frequently. Without ANY forensic details on "the cut" it is very likely coincidence going viral "because Elon"
My 2017 RAV4 doesn't. I think "most" is an exaggeration
https://assets.sia.toyota.com/publications/en/om-s/OM42752U/...
p. 196, step 3: Firmly depress the brake pedal.
> I think we are due some pictures and videos of the evidence.
Yes, they should definitely prioritize posting pictures that only a fraction of a fraction of people will be able to understand or interpret at all, solely so that the people who want to pretend the accumulated things in the story didn't actually occur (or aren't that bad) can point to things they don't understand to naysay them. Brilliant.
I’ve owned at least a dozen cars, none have required the brake pedal press to start.
Pressing the clutch is a North American thing in my experience. All my other vehicles didn’t need it to start.
My car doesn't require stepping on the brake to start but this car does sound like a newer one with weird "features" like that. I think the following car modifications indicate maliciousness and competency in the sabotage that could explain lack of alerting the driver,
>Since then, Berulis has laid low. He filed a police report, included in the suit and viewed by WIRED, and had the car seen by a mechanic who, according to the report, found “that the driver-side front impact/airbag sensor had also been removed but noted that the remaining wires had been spliced together, completing the circuit in a manner that prevented the vehicle from detecting or logging the missing component, while also preventing the vehicle from activating its safety protocols, alerting the driver, or engaging limp mode.” The police report also indicates that fingerprints had been found on Berulis’ car.
> newer one with weird "features" like that
Anything with push button start. It has been around a while.
> and had the car seen by a mechanic who, according to the report, found “that the driver-side front impact/airbag sensor had also been removed but noted that the remaining wires had been spliced together, completing the circuit in a manner that prevented the vehicle from detecting or logging the missing component, while also preventing the vehicle from activating its safety protocols, alerting the driver, or engaging limp mode.
It’s quite obvious that this job was done by a professional if the allegations are true.
And I’m not personally about to doubt that our current government wouldn’t stoop to that level.
Are you just here to doubt the story?
No, I am skeptical without pictures and videos. I've also replaced a lot of brakes. A picture is worth a thousand words.
> a threatening note had been taped to his door, including photos of him walking his dog that appeared to have been taken by a drone
Nothing suspicious here
Now if only somebody involved in DOGE had all sorts of connections to people highly experienced with cars... maybe even by running a major carmaker himself?
https://archive.is/zY2Eb
That link it throwing me:
Is that a new recaptcha thing? I've never seen that before.Yeah, it's Google's second attempt at device attestation (ie. the widely panned web integrity tech they're trying to push through)
Yeah there's been some debate about it in the news, because only a certified device can approve it, meaning this takes away any open-source platform to prove you're a human
It's pretty hard (probably nigh on impossible in the urban greater DC area) to make it out of your driveway/street without pressing the brake pedal enough to know you have an at least somewhat functional system.
The airbag system mods are pretty standard shitbox stuff. System goes off for whatever reason. Car is repaired. Sensors get tricked/fudged along the way because the owner doesn't want to put the money in (probably not worth it). Newer systems are more in depth and obnoxious to deal with so reading between the lines this is an older car which kinda also explains the brake thing.