# Hand brake vs. pedal 'parking brake' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198 "2009-12-31T17:28:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198/21 "2010-01-01T12:03:25Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > On the subject of handbrakes **Racer72** got it right. Take a front wheel drive car with a manual transmission and handbrake out in the snow for a play. Handbrake turns are a hoot! Yes, I was wondering about this, because I can remember friends of mine being able to do a “handbrake” at seemingly high speeds and in a short stopping distance. I’ll admit I was usually clinging to my seat in fear, and not paying much attention to the speeds and technique involved, so, is there an optimum speed the vehicle should be travelling at? ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198/22 "2010-01-01T13:28:45Z")
I would just mess about with it at low (less than 30mph) speeds. I’d start a turn and do a quick pull/release of the handbrake to get the back wheels to lock momentarily and start the back end sliding. You then steer into it and apply power make a nice tight corner. I think rally drivers use this technique for hairpin corners. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198/23 "2010-01-01T13:38:21Z")
Here’s [a good explanation( youtube)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQTML5cIfkk) of a handbrake turn. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198/24 "2010-01-01T15:58:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Mercedes uses a foot operate/handle release parking brake because that’s what they’ve always done. Pain in the ass for a hill start in a manual. My father had a 1986 Isuzu Trooper II. Manual with a foot operated parking brake. I took it out one day to practice hill starts and simply could not figure out the coordination required to do a tough hill start requiring the parking brake. I knew how to do it in my even older Volvo with a hand brake and wanted to see if I could do it with a pedal. Between the pedal brake, the long throw on the gear-shift, and the general unfamiliarity of the vehicle, I gave up in about ten minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198/25 "2010-01-01T17:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Ike Witt > > I just re-read The Big Sleep and there is reference made to a hand throttle. Did cars in, I guess, the 1930’s have hand throttles? Model A’s have a hand throttle on the right side of the steering column and the timing advance (spark) on the left side. I do not think of them as 1st generation cruse control, but I have used it a couple of times to allow repositioning of my right leg in a coop that wasn’t made for Gallouëts:p > [@](#): > > racer72 > Locking up the parking brake is a great way to do a 180 degree turn in a very short amount of space. When the rear brakes lock up, the rear of the car will immediately swap ends with the front. > [@](#): > > We were told to use the parking/emergency brake for slow speed stops only I would put a dollar on those being some hi performance rear wheel brakes. The ordinary parking brake will spin a vehicle around on ice but not so very well on pavement. > [@](#): > > asterion > Quote: > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright View Post > > Mercedes uses a foot operate/handle release parking brake because that’s what they’ve always done. Pain in the ass for a hill start in a manual. > > My father had a 1986 Isuzu Trooper II. Manual with a foot operated parking brake. I took it out one day to practice hill starts and simply could not figure out the coordination required to do a tough hill start requiring the parking brake. I knew how to do it in my even older Volvo with a hand brake and wanted to see if I could do it with a pedal. Between the pedal brake, the long throw on the gear-shift, and the general unfamiliarity of the vehicle, I gave up in about ten minutes. I have to ask what would require one to need the parking brake for a hill start? My procedure is, apply service brake, release parking brake, depress clutch, engage 1st. gear, (if very steep use low (L) if so equipped) release clutch enough to hold vehicle’s position while transferring foot to accelerator. Granted a hand operated center mount parking brake lever that Johnny L.A. calls a **“Johnson Bar”** could be used in a hill start, but that would be a unnecessary practice that would degrade the skill necessary to drive the proper way **IMHO** > [@](#): > > Johnny L.A. > Hand brake vs. pedal ‘parking brake’ > Most of the cars I’ve owned or driven have had a hand brake operated by a ‘Johnson bar’-type lever. A Johnson Bar is a “Forward-Reverse” lever found on old bull dozers,fork lifts and other off road equipment and probably first was used on steam locomotives. But then anything one can wrap a hand around and is attached at one point can be now called a “Johnson Bar” Probably where the slang term of Johnson came to … ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198/26 "2010-01-01T18:11:16Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > A Johnson Bar is a “Forward-Reverse” lever found on old bull dozers,fork lifts and other off road equipment and probably first was used on steam locomotives. > But then anything one can wrap a hand around and is attached at one point can be now called a “Johnson Bar” Probably where the slang term of Johnson came to … It’s also the term used for the flap lever on some airplanes. Like many hand brakes, it resides between the seats. I don’t know the etymology. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198/27 "2010-01-01T18:12:34Z")
The parking brake use to be called an _emergency brake_. When cars started using pneumatic brakes which were easier to press down, car manufactures had a mechanical _emergency brake_. In the United States where cars were mainly automatic, this became a foot pedal. This was preferred because your legs are usually strong enough to apply the brakes, but most people couldn’t use a hand brake without using both hands. That could present a bit of a problem if you were applying the emergency brakes while attempting to steer the car. In the rest of the world, the emergency brake never evolved to a foot pedal because most drivers found a hand brake useful for staring a manual transmission on a hill. Another reason why the U.S. may have gone with the foot pedal: U.S cars had bench seats in the front. That made making out a lot easier, but it did cause problems with where to put a hand brake lever. Once cars started being built with bucket seats, you started to see handbrakes in the U.S. I don’t think that many U.S. cars switched to handbrakes because they’re better, but because they looked neat. Sports cars had handbrakes, so if you put a handbrake in your car, it must be a sporty car! This is the same reason why the [1980 Buick Skylark](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/433257/1981_buick_skylark.jpg) came with a hood ornament. One look and you knew you were looking at a great luxury car and not an overpriced Chevrolet Citation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-brake-vs-pedal-parking-brake/523198.md?page=1)