Brake failure. On a 1998 Ford Contour svt (~118,440 miles), the bolt attaching the rear brake caliper resulted in a single point failure to the braking system. While driving North on us 301, just South of laplata, md, I heard a pop and the car felt as if I had run over something, but nothing apeared in the road (from the mirrors). Later when slowing while approaching aa traffic signal, I had no brakes. Thankfully I was on a slight incline and able to gear down and use what little brakes remained to stop the car and crawl it to a parking lot. After having the car towed in, my mechanic told me that one bolt attaching one of the rear calipers had sheared off causing the loss of braking power on the car. The car did not lose any brake fluid during all of this.

- Fredericksbrg, VA, USA