2002 CHEVROLET SILVERADO — SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP

PRIOR TO THE CRASH I'LL DESCRIBE, I NOTICED THAT THE ANTILOCK BRAKES ON MY TRUCK WOULD ENGAGE RANDOMLY AT LOW SPEEDS, EVEN THOUGH THE ROAD WAS CLEAR AND DRY. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY INDICATION FROM INDICATOR LIGHTS OR THE TRUCK'S STATUS DISPLAY THAT THERE WAS A MALFUNCTION IN PROGRESS. UNTIL THE INCIDENT BELOW, BRAKING CONTROL ALWAYS RETURNED WITHIN A FEW SECONDS AND SEEMED TO POSE NO SAFETY THREAT. ON THIS PARTICULAR EVENING, THEY HAD PERFORMED WITHOUT INCIDENT ALL THE WAY HOME FROM WORK. I PULLED INTO MY DRIVEWAY AND INTO MY GARAGE. UPON ENTERING THE GARAGE PROPER, THE ANTILOCK BRAKES ENGAGED. THE GARAGE FLOORS (AND DRIVEWAY) WERE BOTH CLEAR OF ANY SNOW, ICE, OR LIQUIDS. WHEN THE ANTILOCK BRAKES TOOK CONTROL, IT RELEASED THE BRAKES AND LOCKED THE BRAKE PEDAL IN SUCH A WAY THAT I COULD NOT REGAIN CONTROL. THIS TIME, I WAS UNABLE TO PUSH THE PEDAL DOWN. MY VEHICLE SUBSEQUENTLY STUCK THE WORKBENCH ALONG THE BACK WALL OF MY GARAGE. THE IMPACT PUSHED THE ENTIRE GARAGE WALL OUT ALMOST 12 INCHES, INCLUDING THE CEMENT BLOCK FOUNDATION. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE. HOWEVER, THE DAMAGE TO THE GARAGE REMAINS. TO CORRECT THE FAILURE, A MECHANIC AT A LOCAL DEALERSHIP REMOVED THE FUSE THAT CONTROLS THE ANTILOCK BRAKE FUNCTIONS, ESSENTIALLY DISABLING THE ANTILOCK SYSTEM. DUE TO THE NATURE AND LOCATION OF THE ANTILOCK SENSORS (IN THE WHEEL BEARINGS), REPAIRS ARE NOT FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE AT THIS TIME. THE TRUCK'S BRAKES FUNCTION NORMALLY WITH THE ANTILOCK SYSTEM DISAB