Why 2nd? I have a manual and put it in 1st gear and use the parking brake, too. What’s the advantage to 2nd gear instead of 1st?
In Thailand it’s possible that you may have to push another car out of your way in order to get out of your parking space, so you can’t apply the parking brake whenever you park in a parking garage or large parking lot. I’ve personally had to do this a dozen or so times in the six months I’ve been here. It’s a lot like those puzzles where you have to slide tiles around inside a small frame to get the picture to appear properly.
Link below shows people pushing cars out of their way.
I seem to recall that long ago when I was a kid there was a third location – in the dashboard. It was a handle you would pull out to engage, and to release it you would turn the handle 90 degrees to unlock it and let it slide forward again to the dash. I think maybe my dad’s Ford Falcon had an emergency brake like that.
I always have manuals but I don’t use the brake unless I’m on a very steep hill.
Idaho has big temperature spreads, even in the summer we might wake up with frost on the windshield. Since parking brakes freeze so easily we were always taught not to use them habitually.
I can’t think of anyone who sets it habitually so this thread surprised me.
I honestly don’t know, just something I’ve heard, but since I don’t do it I never really investigated it or gave it much thought. I’m sure if it was something I did, I’d probably do some research on which gear to use.
When I drove a manual, I sure did. But it was a hand brake right there almost in the way of the shifter. My current automatic has a foot brake parking brake, and it’s easy to forget about both putting it on and taking it off. Can’t even see the thing if you’re in the drivers seat. Unless I’m on a steep hill, I don’t use it.
Huh. Never heard of this being a problem and have never experienced it.
I’ve been driving a manual for the last ten years, so, yes, I always use my parking brake, incline or no incline. When I drove automatics, I never used the parking brake, except in the case of inclines. I honestly do not know of a single other automatic driver that uses the e-brake when driving. I will use it now when I drive my wife’s car (an automatic) out of habit, but normally I would not use the parking brake on a slushbox.
Well, if you are driving an automatic and you aren’t parking on a steep incline (probably 99% of the time, if not more), then you don’t need to. I think the thread backs that up.
When I was a teenager I parked in my parent’s slightly inclined driveway. Half an hour later I came out and found the car across the street in the middle of a neighbor’s lawn. Another neighbor said he saw it roll across by itself.
At this point I’ve been driving a manual transmission for the last 25 years so of course I always use the parking break but I do even when renting an automatic. I also turn the wheels into the curb. What’s the harm in putting all the odds in your favor?
It backs up what people do, but not necessarily what’s best. Interesting, seems to be a geographic thing, with most Aussies using it, and most USers not. Wiki is predicably definitive and unreliable as to be expected:
Automotive safety experts [who?] recommend the use of both systems to immobilize a parked car, and the use of both systems is required by law in some places [where?].
What are these…hills…you speak of? The running joke around here is that you can watch your dog run away from home for days!
So my answer is: I have never engaged my handbrake. I have also never operated a manual vehicle.
It does nothing of the sort. It backs up the belief that most Americans don’t do it, which is indicative of nothing. Most Americans also consume too many fatty foods and salt, too; doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
I suppose Rick’s data-cum-anecdote sort of proves that it’s not necessary, but if you’re the sort of person who frequently forgets to disengage your parking brake you shouldn’t be driving anyway.
Out of curiosity, what’s the purpose of the parking pawl in an automatic, if it’s not meant to be used instead of the parking brake in most cases? I understand they can break and all that, I’m just wondering why they bothered to put one in. Why not just park the car in neutral and set the brake?
All vehicles are required to have an emergency brake separate from your service brakes. If your service brakes fail, you can stop yourself with the emergency brake. You cannot stop a vehicle with a parking pawl, it will shear off without necessarily even slowing you down.
I drive a manual and an automatic and a tractor trailer which is an automatic that does not have a parking pawl. I always set the brake when I park without exception.
I think you misread him - it looked to me like he was saying “They gave me this parking pawl - presumably the thing’s there for a reason!” Logically, if the pawl was generally not sufficient to the task of holding your car stopped, putting it there would be a bad idea because it would encourage unsafe practices. But it’s there, so logically (well, mostly logically) it should be safe and sufficient in most situations. And thus we don’t need to use the emergency brake because we’re already covered.
Unless of course you’re driving a vehicle that doesn’t have a parking pawl - in those cases I think we can all agree you can’t rely on it to hold your car stationary.
Yes, this is what I mean. A manual transmission doesn’t have a parking pawl. You set the car in neutral (or leave it in gear) and engage the parking brake. Why does an automatic bother to have the parking pawl? Why not design it just like the manual transmission, so when you park, you just put it in neutral (or gear) and set the parking brake?
This whole conversation raises a question for me. As I said, I habitually use it regardless, and I’ll continue to do so, but I’m wondering if it’s really necessary in my current car.
The consensus seems to be that it’s not really necessary (but won’t hurt) to use it with an automatic transmission unless you’re on a steep hill. My current car has an automatic transmission, but it’s a continuously variable transmission, So, is it necessary in my car? Does it even have a parking pawl?
I drive an automatic transmission.
I haven’t used my parking brake in at least 8 years. Thankfully, I don’t park on really steep hills in my daily travels.
Of course it has one. If the gear selector has a P on it and you can put it in P and it doesn’t roll away, it has a parking pawl. If you’re on a little bit of an incline and you put your car in park, when you take your foot of the brake and it rolls an inch or so, that’s the parking pawl pushing up against one of the teeth in the sprocket slot it landed in. The parking pawl has nothing to do with the style of automatic transmission. In fact, I don’t see any mechanical reason there couldn’t be one on a manual transmission. It would just take a separate lever to engage it whereas on an automatic transmission it’s integrated into the gear selector.
