Brake check

Legality

United States

In most states, brake checking is considered a crime and falls under laws pertaining to reckless driving, aggressive driving, or stunt driving. Under Section 22109 of the California Vehicle Code, a driver cannot stop suddenly or decrease their speed on a highway without giving an appropriate signal to the drivers behind them. The Washington State Department of Licensing in the United States includes brake checking as a symptom of aggressive driving.

Canada

Legal experts in the Canadian Province of Ontario consider it to fall under that province's stunt driving laws.

In motorsports

The concept of brake checking is often seen in auto racing, with several drivers being accused of, or admitting to, brake checking competitors for various reasons. At the 2006 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, NASCAR driver Robby Gordon brake checked Michael Waltrip during a caution period in what was seen as retaliation for contact both made earlier in the race and for an incident that occurred between the two the year prior at the same track. The stoppage caved in the nose and radiator of Waltrip's car, leaving him stranded in the middle of the backstretch with fluid leaking onto the track.

An incident in the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel was attributed to Vettel's belief that he had been brake checked by Hamilton.

In 2018, an on-track incident between NASCAR drivers Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin at the spring Martinsville Speedway race ended in what Autoweek Matt Weaver described as, "Harvick... slamming on his brakes, the resulting contact severely damaging the nose on Hamlin's Toyota." Hamlin would later comment, "I probably should have brake-checked him in the first place."

In 2021, at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen brake checked Lewis Hamilton after Verstappen was asked to give a place back for previously overtaking Hamilton off track. Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer Adrian Newey said "I think he got frustrated with Lewis not overtaking him but he still shouldn't have brake-tested him."

In the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, during the final lap of the race, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso brake tested Mercedes' George Russell at Turn Six of the circuit, which caused Russell to close distance unusually fast. This culminated in Russell losing control of the car, causing him to crash, with the car coming to rest upside-down in the middle of the track. This saw the race ending under a virtual safety car. Alonso received a 20 second penalty for erratic driving. Russell would later comment: "It caught me by surprise. I was half a second behind him and next thing he slams on the brakes, accelerates again and then slams on the brakes again."

References

References

1. (23 November 2015). "Brake testing - What is it?". Drivingtests.co.
2. "Is Brake Checking Illegal? (Yes & How to Prove It)".
3. (27 January 2023). "Is Brake Checking Illegal? (Yes & Why It's Dangerous)".
4. "California Legislative Information".
5. "WA State Licensing (DOL) Official Site: Road rage".
6. "Stunt Driving".
7. "Police say driver was 'brake checking,' reaching speeds of 190 km/h on 401 in Chatham {{!".
8. "The Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip Show at New Hampshire".
9. (25 June 2017). "FIA analysis showed Hamilton did not brake-test Vettel".
10. Weaver, Matt. (2018-03-26). "Kevin Harvick brake-checks Denny Hamlin in NASCAR Martinsville".
11. Wilde, Jon. (2022-05-03). "Adrian Newey: "Silly" Max Verstappen "shouldn't have brake-tested Lewis Hamilton"".
12. (2024-03-24). "Alonso penalised over Russell crash incident".