My car (97 Saturn SW2) turns off the DRLs every time I use the emergency brake, no matter when I use it. I believe it works this way on all GM cars. Don’t know about other makes and models.
I noticed you referred to what is known as the handbrake on this side of the pond as the emergency brake. Is this just a difference in nomenclature or would you actually consider using it in an emergency?
I got in an argument with my wife about this. She asked why I put on the emergency brake every time I parked. I replied that it was a parking brake. I challenged her to look it up in the car’s manual. She didn’t, but still grumbled about it, since she sometimes has problems releasing it.
(Just to cover my ass later, I looked in the manual. It does call it a parking brake, not emergency.)
I think it’s regional. My wife’s from New England, and I’m from the western US.
However, I do have a non-parking use for the parking brake, making it an emergency brake:
If I pass a parked police car that’s obviously looking for speeders, I look at my speed. If I was going too fast, I’ll take my foot off the accelerator, but not put it on the regular brake. I’ll instead pull up slightly on the parking brake until I’m down to the speed limit, then put my foot back on the gas. If the cop saw me, (hopefully) didn’t get a radar lock on my speed, but pulled out to pace me, he’d only see that I was going the speed limit. Any speeding that he thought I was doing was just in his mind. :D:D
PS - I’ve looked in several car manuals since, and they all say it’s a parking brake.
I dont get it. Whats the difference between using the handbrake and using the footbrake?
The handbrake doesn’t engage the rear brake lights…
My '85 T-Bird had automatic lights that come on at dusk or when light levels are diminished such as in a tunnel or parking garage. There is a sensor in the middle of the dash.
Converting my car so that I have permanent daytime lights took two strips of electrical tape to cover the sensor.
On the centre mount brake light, I installed one in my van and immediately noticed that I had fewer people rushing up behind me and then slamming on the brakes.
I think that both systems add to the safety of our vehicles as what you can’t see can definately hurt you and seconds count.
This is one topic we talked about before a few times but I don’t know how to search for it. Someone said that people look stupid having lights on during the day.
Thank you, it is all clear now. I must remember that one.
The handbrake (“Emergency brake in the U.S.) is NOT the same as the footbrake (or just “brake”…in the U.S. and everywhere else).
The brake pedal engages the car’s main braking system, usually by means of hydraulics. The main braking system is generally a disk-type or drum-type or some combination thereof.
In the U.S. and the U.K., at least, since 1969, the brake hydraulic lines have been required to be “dynamically cross proportioned.” That is, in the case of brake line failure, the front left and rear right brakes are linked on the same line and the front right and rear left brakes are linked on the same line. Thus, if part of the system is rendered inoperable, the remaining part will brake evenly front-to-back and left-to-right, avoiding a hard pull to the side and possible loss of control. Now I’m just rambling.
Anyway, the handbrake is different. It is always a mechanical brake…no hydraulics, just a cable. It is also almost invariably a drum brake on ONE rear wheel. It is meant to act as a backup to the parking transmission setting (P or 1st gear) in case of transmission failure, or as added security when parking the car on a steep slope. It is not INTENDED to function as a brake for a moving vehicle, but can certainly be used to that effect, albeit poorly, and as a last resort–thus the ‘emergency’ moniker in the States.
Vehicles built after 1992 in the U.S. and U.K. are required to have the regular brake lights activated by the emergency brake as well. I was likely going to mention something about headlights as well, but damned if I remember what it was.
Thank you, and Goodnight.
Many USA cars with DRL have a bypass method to turn them off. A friend told me the dealer told him, “I’m not allowed to suggest that you pull fuse 14.” to turn off the DRL in his GMCJimmy. When we picked up my wife’s '98 Bonneville, the salesman showed us a sequence of switches to override the DRL, but I can’t recall it right now. Consult your dealer.
I have a problem with this. Every vehicle I have owned and worked one/heard of the emergency/handrake is on both rear wheels. On a drum brake vehicle, pushes the brake shoes against the drum. On disc brake vehicles, it pushes the inside pad against the rotor. I have never seen a system only designed to work on one wheel. I have also seen systems designed to brake the driveshaft instead of the wheels directly, but thats another thing all together you don’t see to often.
I have never heard of emergency/hand brakes turning on any tail/brakelighs whatsoever other than the warning light on the dash. My new Cherokee must be going against regulation if I read your post correctly.
Eric
I can assure you that on my 1997 Mazda pickup truck (I’m in the US), the parking brake does not activate the brake lights. The same holds true for my fiancee’s 2000 Honda Civic.
Not based on any studies, but on my experience, FWIW.
I drive a light-grey Mazda 323 hatchback, so I tend to notice other grey cars on the road. In fog, snow, and rain it’s harder to see light cars when they don’t have lights, especially if you’re concentrating on maintaining your lane. I’ve never had problems with glare from other cars during the day.
I’ve never had DRLs myself, but I do appreciate them on other cars.
I like to drive the backroads. If you get out on a tree lined road on a sunny day you are going to be goin in an out of shadows. Put the sun at the right angle and add a few curves to the road and it becomes near impossible to see anything in the patch of shade. Several times DRLs have allowed me to see a car I would not have otherwise seen.
(Of course you could argue that this shows nothing about their usefulness in preventing accidents. In none of those cases would I have hit the car, we were both in our appropriate lanes, but I can see where it DRLs might save a few lives per year.)
Some of the new cars have halogen headlights & when they are on during the day & pointed at you, wowza! my eyes!
Like I mentioned in my previous posts, every owner’s manual I’ve looked at calls the hand-activated brake a “parking brake”. It should never be used in case of emergencies to stop a moving vehicle. With no ABS control, it’d just lock up a wheel or two. This would most likely cause an accident, not prevent one.
On occasions, I’ve parked my car, put it in neutral, and pulled the parking brake with the car still running. When I got out (usually to run in to the house for something I forgot), the brake lights were not activated.
If only Joel from “Risky Business” had used his parking brake, he wouldn’t’ve had to have had his dad’s car super-detailed. (Wow! Four instances of the verb ‘to have’ in that last sentence!)
It’s called a parking brake for liability purposes. Until the Seventies or so, it was an emergency brake; the design of the brake itself is still basically the same, but now if it fails you in an emergency, it’s harder to sue the auto manufacturer.
I, too, have driven off with it engaged, so obviously it’s not strong enough to stop you if you’re leadfootedly determined to forge on ahead; but if the normal (“service”) brake system fails, it’s sure better than nothing.
The lever-actuated type has some value in snowy situations; on a rear wheel drive car, if you’re stuck, you can apply it lightly and get better traction, since it keeps the rear wheel with the crummy traction from spinning. I’ve also used it to slow the car on steep downhills, believing that the car is more directionally stable with the retarding force applied to the rear wheels only.
The foot-operated ratcheting pull-the handle-to-release type is obviously impossible to modulate this way.
I said:
My apologies for this erroneous information. My source has since retracted his statement and pleads forgiveness from the dopers. He still insists, however, that most HB’s are only connected to ONE rear wheel. As he is a car salesman, I say let him live in fear. Apparently, I should consider my sources more carefully. (A car salesman. What was I thinking?)
The handbrake, by the way, can indeed stop a car just fine. It’s not very efficient, but it works. I just tried it on my way to work this morning. The car didn’t fly into wild gyrations or anything like that. The first time I did it, I applied gradually-increasing pressure, and it stopped the car just fine, but I did have to really pull on the thing. The second time (in a controlled situation, mind you), I just yanked it and did indeed lock up the rear wheels. I stopped just fine again, with no loss of control…though it smelled horrible from the skid.
Results:
The HB should work fine in an emergency.
MY HB is connected to both rear wheels.
DON’T do this at home.
Thank you, and Goodnight.
Edward The Head wrote:
On every car I have driven that was equipped with daytime running lights, the dashboard instrument lights have always been OFF while the daytime running lights were on.