When people learn to drive a car, not much thought is given to the emergency brake. In your story April 14, the driver of the van going down a hill in Livermore Falls with no brakes may well have been able to utilize the vehicle’s emergency brake.

How many people have ever been told to use their vehicle’s emergency brake just to practice their use? Once a person does that a few times, they are more likely to think about using it. If both brake systems fail, shifting to a lower gear will slow the vehicle down.

Sometimes there is not enough time to think of that, but if one practices a little, a driver may well remember what the emergency brake is for.

This is just like a vehicle that has a racing engine from a stuck throttle. The driver should place the gearshift in neutral and pull over to the side of the road, stop the car, and only then turn off the key; then put transmission in park. It is important that a driver not turn off the key before stopping because power steering would be lost.

Parents should ask their young drivers what they would do. Hopefully they will have the right answer.

Practice, and having young drivers practice, may save their lives.

Those two things may not happen often, but not knowing what to do and then panicking is not a good choice.

Robert Soucy, Lewiston