slam/jam on the brakes

idiom

: to press down hard on the brakes of a car to make it stop suddenly

He slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the other car.

You risk getting into an accident if you jam on the brakes when another car is right behind you.

Examples of slam/jam on the brakes in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The randomness of where the ball might end up forced the players to slam on the brakes or speed up at a high rate. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Mar. 2024

Opponents contend the slow-growth measure would slam on the brakes, just as the city is overcoming decades of construction inertia. —James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2023

The vehicle could not anticipate the actions of jaywalkers or slam on the brakes, according to the report. —Corina Vanek, The Arizona Republic, 28 July 2023

Several drivers have had to slam on the brakes to prevent the car from hitting people in crosswalks, videos appear to show. —Matt McFarland, CNN, 3 Nov. 2021

More companies are expected to do the same as firms that aggressively hired over the last two years slam on the brakes, and in many cases shift into reverse. —Ramishah Maruf, CNN, 21 Jan. 2023

Then slam on the brakes and make a 16-point turn right there rather than, say, continuing to the next side street or crossroad. —Car and Driver, 26 Dec. 2022

Only in the past couple years did developers finally start building at something close to their pre-bubble pace — only to slam on the brakes now that rates are rising. —New York Times, 23 July 2022

For George Fogg, 89, the state can’t slam on the brakes fast enough on vulgar vanities. —Scott Calvert, WSJ, 15 June 2022