Curious as to why it wouldn’t be “neutral (if manual)”?
I always use it. I’ve been driving manual transmission cars for 20+ years, so there’s that, But even if I’m driving an automatic I always use the parking brake. Partly force of habit, partly my driving instructor insisted I use it when I was learning to drive, too, partly because we had a steep driveway when I was growing up so I was often parking on an incline, and partly because it’s there. I figure the car manufacturer provided it for a reason, so I should use it. A little extra redundancy never hurt anyone.
Because leaving the car in gear acts as a backup if the parking brake fails.
You’re using the engine to help hold the car if you leave it in gear. When I park at home I always leave it in gear with the parking brake off, as the rear drums tend to bind if the brakes are left on for any length of time.
I don’t remember if my instructor taught me, but I’ll always use the parking brake while I’m waiting at a junction.
Because if you leave a manual in neutral and the parking brake fails, the car can roll.
I was taught to leave it in reverse if on any sort of forward slope, and in first if the slope’s to the rear of the car.
I always set the handbrake; many years of habit. Plus which, apparently if you don’t use it routinely it may seize up and not work if you need it, or seize up and not release if somebody does set it.
LOL. I live in a very flat place now and never have to use the parking brake.
But I’ve lived in very hilly places, like, near San Francisco, and moderately hilly places where you might need parking brakes just to be sure. So I use them when the situation calls for it.
Yes, back in the day, I had a manual (sporty little Prelude) and drove in San Francisco. Climbing Nob Hill, there was one intersection where I couldn’t see any part of the intersection because of the angle of the slope (the only view in front was the sky). I definitely used the parking brake when starting into the intersection from a stop.
Me too, now that you reminded me!
I also use the parking brake when stunt driving. You can put the car into a spin really easy that way; helps in cornering sometimes, when you’re rally driving! Wifey doesn’t like it tho.
I still drive a stick, and still engage my parking brake.
Always. I learned to drive in the San Francisco Bay Area on a manual. It’s a completely ingrained habit and I’d have to consciously try not to use it. Which would feel weird and unsettling. What if my car started to float away?
Every time.
I have a new Bronco Badlands, with a manual transmission. The combination of a 5,000 lb. truck and a 2,3l 4-cylinder engine means that it will roll away, even if it’s in gear, on any significant slope.
…southern hemisphere represent: yes, I use the parking brake, pretty much everyone in NZ would use the parking brake, its taught in driving schools, its a requisite part of a “hill start.”
I drive a stick, so always. When I drive my wife’s car, I sometimes do and sometimes don’t, or rather, did and didn’t, as her new car has that weird parking brake switch (and I’m not even sure which one is the actual parking brake – I assume it’s the one with the P and a circle, but there’s another one with a P with little rays emanating out of it, which I assume is some sort of sensor switch, but I’ve never touched that.) Before, it was just a matter of muscle memory as to pulling up the parking brake in her previous automatics.
Not in the 6+ years that I’ve owned my current vehicle.
I always use the parking brake, even when it’s a floor brake in an automatic. I do it just because the owner’s manual says to use the parking brake, and they must know what is best, right?
When I drive somebody else’s car I have to remember to leave the brake off, because they hardly ever expect it to be on.
The Tesla is weird. When in “Park” it applies the parking brake. Holding the park button for a few seconds also applies the parking brake again. Nobody is exactly sure why, but the best guess I’ve seen is some kind of regulation about being able to manually apply the parking brake, even if it is applied automatically when stopped.
Lotta people here have never had a transmission fail, huh? I’m another one who got in the habit while driving manuals for most of my driving life, but it’s just good practice. As a matter of fact, when we got a recall notice for our Escape’s transmission, they advised us to be sure to use the parking brake until it was fixed, just in case it slipped out of gear.
I always do. Now sure, most of my life I drove a stick, but still, on a hill even on a automatic, I use both P and the Parking Brake.
I drive a stick (and will for as long as possible), so I use the parking brake every time I park my car, and on occasion otherwise, too.
Ditto. Daily driver is manual. I use it always when parked. Occasionally on hills when some dipshit rides my rear bumper. This seems to be happening more and more – I wonder if it’s due to so few who can drive standard now? Maybe old drivers understand the need to leave a little room.
I use my (automatic) truck for towing, so use the parking brake with it too. There can be up to 12,000 lbs. back there, and I don’t want that much force on the parking pawl, especially with powered shift (vacuum or maybe hydraulic actually moves it into gear, not the force of my arm).
I’ve heard something like that, too.
Anyway, I long ago got into the habit of using the parking brake every time I park, and I do it without really thinking. Once as a kid I was sitting in the family car parked in a driveway and it started to slide backward into the street. So I figure it’s safer just to habitually put the parking brake on than to try to assess/remember when it is and isn’t a reasonable precaution.
The first time I drove my SIL’s Mazda, I had a difficult time figuring out how to disengage the parking brake with its silly push button.
I’ve been in the habit of using mine for nearly fifty years. I’ve been driving Priuses for the past six years (with the foot-operated parking brake on the left), and my bum hip made it painful to use (but I did anyway). Since my hip replacement in ‘21, it’s an absolute joy to set it!