If driving with your parking brake on is such a BAD thing, why is it so EASY to do?

Factual Questions
21

We had a customer located in, well we won’t go there to protect the gulity.
Anyway she had her front wheel drive car towed in to the dealer with two flat rear tires and a complaint of very low power. It seems that she did not see the BIG RED light on the dash, did not hear the rear tires skiding across the pavement, nor did she smell the burning rubber. The e brake was on full and the rear tires did not rotate at all.
She did finally come out of here coma when both rear tires went flat and then she called a tow truck.

22

To be fair, some parking brake warning lights are kinda inconspicuous. My last car had the light at the extreme bottom of the instrument panel - if you weren’t sitting up very straight, you might literally not even be able to see it. I mean, I never drove more than a block or so with it on, but you don’t have to be an utter moron to miss it.

23

My folks just bought a new car (a PT Cruiser) that has a warning buzzer when the parking brake is left on and a little LCD warning with it on the dash – “Parking brake engaged.” Personally, I always use my parking brake when parking and I never forget to let it off – I suppose because I always use it, so letting it off when starting the car is second nature.

24

“Never use the parking brake”? Where on Earth do people get such notions.
If parking an automatic on a steep hill, you should position the wheels as described above, set the parking brake, and then puit the tranny in “park”. This keeps most of the strain off of the pawl in the transmission.
Read your manual. It probably says something to this effect. Of course the manufacturers of your car might be trying to fool you…
Peace,
mangeorge

25
      • I had an older (1982) Chevy pickup truck for a while that wouldn’t drive forward at all with the parking brake all the way down. It would back up rather normally, but not go forward.
        ~
26

I agree. Don’t do up your seatbelt, and bells go off for minutes at a time, but both our cars will let you drive forever with just a red light.

The location of it on our van is pretty easy to miss, yeah. Ideally, the damn thing should make some noise if the parking brake is on and you’re in any gear but “P”.

27

My car lights a warning light, then if I drive off anyway, it sounds a warning and displays “your parking brake is on” on the instrument panel.

28

When I drive with my parking brake engaged there is an audible as well as visual warning.

29

What, the passers-by jeer and laugh as well as pointing?

30

Turning one’s wheels doesn’t always work - it’s possible the wheels can still roll away. It usually works, but is it not easier to just pull a stick?

Plus, it’s not always easy to see when wheels need to be turned. For instance, I once saw a van in a school car park that had parked in its designated space, and left the hand brake off. The car park was not an obvious hill - I’d never noticed it being sloped at all before. Inevitably, the next time I looked the van was perched precariously on a steeper hill on the other side of the car park, grill-first in a tree, having smashed through a fence. If that tree had not been there, it would have gone flying down the hill into a walking path for students. Just that slightest incline had caused it to roll, and build up enough speed to break through a fence.

The driver felt mighty stupid. :slight_smile:

31

The driver was mighty stupid.
IMO, of course. It’s just that I love all you non-brake-users, and I don’t want you to hurt yourselves or somebody else.
Peace :slight_smile:
mangeorge