Are your brakes safe?

Brake fluid absorbs water naturally from atmospheric moisture. Over time, the water contaminates the brake fluid by lowering its boiling point. Water boils at 100°C, vapourising into steam which - unlike liquid - is compressible. The result is so-called 'soft pedal', the symptom of reduced hydraulic pressure: braking effect is diminished or lost completely when the brake pedal is applied. When the steam cools however, it condenses back into a liquid state, seeming to restore normal braking function - until the (heating through braking) process is repeated, when the symptoms re-occur. Given its characteristics of sudden brake failure, this condition has been labelled 'the silent killer'.