I always do it, almost subconsciously. It’s how I was taught and it’s a habit that’s as ingrained as using turn signals or looking in the mirror before pulling out from the curb.
I’ve never watched what others do (why would I?), so I guess I assumed everyone does it.
Sorry if I offended. 
I was simply trying to share the fact, that if it wasn’t for this thread (and the board in general on a wide range of topics), I would have just assumed everyone used the handbrake all the time. Sorry for sharing. I’ll stop post haste.
Same here. It just part of parking the car, even if on a totally flat surface in the middle of summer. I do it in my garage where it can’t go anywhere even if “park” failed on me.
Hubby never does it and it really bothers me.
It wouldn’t occur to me not to put on the handbrake. It’s as automatic to me as turning off the ignition.
I’ve only driven cars with automatic transmissions in fairly flat cities, so I almost never use the parking brake. And every time I’ve used it, I’ve forgotten to disengage it. Every. Time.
I set the parking brake when I took my driver’s test, because it was a required step to avoid failing the test. I haven’t used it again since.
Question to all of you Australians calling it the “handbrake”: do you not have cars in Australia with pedal-operated parking brakes?
I’ve pretty much always owned manuals, so I’ve always used the parking brake. In the winter you have to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t ice up, but it’s good protection in case the stick gets bumped and the car drops out of gear. On my GF’s automatic it’s a foot pedal, but we always use it on that car as well.
engaging the parking brake can operate adjusting mechanisms that adjust for wear on brake components. depends on your cars particulars.
I only use mine for drifting around corners and break-checking tailgaters. j/k
I’ve got an auto and I use the brake every time I park. It’s a habit, like wearing a seatbelt. Mine is the handbrake style, not the pedal type.
Just a quick data point. In all my years of working on cars I have seen two or maybe three cars with broken parking pawls.
Spread over 40+ years, I can say that this problem is very rare. not unknown, but damn rare.
I have on the other hand seen dozens and dozens (maybe hundreds) of cars that have had the e-brake left on either wearing out the rear brakes prematurely, or causing other issues. This driver created problem is much much more common.
I’ll use mine if parking on a hill, otherwise no.
I currently drive a stick. I use the parking brake every single time I park the car, without exception.
The first car I ever owned was an automatic. I used the parking brake every single time I parked the car, without exception.
I’ve had a number of other cars in between. On those I used the parking brake every single time I parked the car, without exception.
I heard the same episode of Car Talk; before that episode, it never occurred to me that there might be people who *wouldn’t *use the parking brake every time.
Brits call it the handbrake too, and I’ve never seen a car in the UK with a pedal-operated emergency or parking brake.
You Brits and Aussies would just love my truck- it has a manual transmission and a pedal-operated parking brake. I do use it when I park.
I put it on every time, but I learned to drive in the UK. It’s just one of those things American drivers don’t do. The others are indicating when changing lanes or turning, and moving the fuck out of the fast lane when not overtaking anyone. You get used to it.
Most Mercedes models from about 1980 on have pedal-operated hand/parking brakes.
The Smurf speaks for me too.
I live in Colorado Springs, where we have a LOT of hills. A lot of us think that routinely using the parking brake is something that only overly-cautious people do. We routinely park on slopes that you flatlanders would be amazed at.
One of my cars has a habit of burning out the brake light on the dashboard. I once burned out the parking brake because of that. (I was parked on an icy slope at the time.) I have, on occasion, chocked the wheels with a big stick or rock.
I’m born, raised, and living in the US and, other than the fast lane thing, which I’ve noticed at times, I have no idea where you got these ideas. Maybe it depends on the part of the country?
I’ve seen one or two models here in Australia which has the foot-pedal operated version. I couldn’t recall what models they were, but both times it was a hire car, and I recall the first time sitting in the drivers seat and spending 4-5 minutes looking for the handbrake. :smack: