Forgive me if this has been covered already – I read some of the posts hastily. The following only relates to my experience with manual transmissions:
The parking/emergency brake should also keep you from going in reverse.
The brake doesn’t need to be cranked all the way back as far as it can go – 4-5 clicks should do it for most vehicles. By cranking it too hard, I think you can wear it out.
That Opalcat cracks me up!
My experience, referring to manual transmission:
Parking brakes, if pulled all the way, should stop you from going in either direction.
If they’re not pulled all the way, or if they’re maladjusted, I can think of another reason (except asymmetry in the mechanism, as 1420Vel.GN suggested) why going backwards is easier: different transmission ratio. I’d assume that ratio is lower (or should that be ‘higher’?) in reverse gear than in first gear so there’s more force on the wheel.
As someone already pointed out, PBs are a safety feature you shouldn’t just disable instead of repairing it. I don’t know about the U.S., but in Germany, you’d lose your operating license (correct term?) and insurance coverage over a thing like that.
My father is a great driver as well, big mileage, no accident in 35 years, blah, blah. But he sure isn’t perfect, and I’m mature enough to make up my own mind about what’s right or wrong, in driving and all other things.
Let me see if I can cut to the chase:
Cables, or brake mechanisms can rust if not properly checked, maintained, or replaced and will bind over time. Its as inevitable as old age.
I believe the drum brakes frequently used in the rear where the parking brake is located is designed to float so that as you apply the brakes when rolling forward, the mechanism will reposition itself to apply even more pressure to compensate for heat fade. This is sort of like the action of inertia reels in your seat belt.
This same float will work in reverse when backing up, releasing some of the pressure, thus making it less efficient in reverse. That is why it is easier to overcome the brakes in reverse than moving forward. The moral is not to speed in reverse, not a likely situation normally.
When parking facing uphill, the brakes only have to overcome the weight of the car, not any additional force applied by the engine, or momentum in motion. Therefore, even if it is less efficient in reverse, it is more than adequate to hold the car in place. It is of course prudent to turn the steering wheels into the curb when parking downhill and away from the curb when facing uphill.
Cutting brake cables is just plain STUPID.
Incidentally, they use drum brakes more often than disc brakes in the rear because of the need for parking (or emergency) brakes. Disc brakes must be applied hydraulically, while drum brakes can be applied with a cable. It needs less pressure. Besides, it gives a seperate mechanism to apply brakes other than the main system - an additional safety feature.
Danny wrote:
Why the latter? If you roll backwards, is it desirable to roll away from the curb? I’d rather turn the wheels toward the curb in both cases.
The rear brakes on my Jaguar are both disk and drum. The drum is for the parking brake, the disks for the hydraulic brakes. I suspect than most 4 wheel disk brakes use this sort of combination.
TheIncredibleHolg writes:
“If you roll backwards, is it desirable to roll away from the curb? I’d rather turn the wheels toward the curb in both cases.”
If there is a curb (sidwalk, barrier, etc.), and you are parked say less than a foot from it facing uphill with the wheels turned AWAY from the curb, then if you roll backwards, the front wheels will hit the curb first thus preventing any further motion. This will allow for less motion than if your wheels are turned into the curb.
What you say will be true if there is NO curb. Then you should turn into the curb facing uphill or downhill.
Danny, I’m quite aware of what you say. But I still prefer my way for at least two reasons:
I think any attempt at turning the wheels is better than not doing anything! I see it all the time where people park on the hills without turning their wheels. Belief me, I try not to park downhill from them!
Just a minor aside: the difference between letting the steering wheels hit the curb or letting the rear wheels hit the curb can be great even if you park close to the curb. This is because the rear wheels are “at the center of the circle”, so to speak. It will require a very large motion of the front steering wheels in order to obtain a very small amount of motion in the rear wheels. I have seen many times a car parking uphill that had the front swung halfway across the road before the rear wheels hit the curb to stop.
I think we can agree on that. Even if you miss the curb completely, you’ll only roll in a semi-circle until you’re crossways to the slope, instead of going all the way downhill! 
One of the things we were taught in driving about this subject was that after parking (assuming you are close enough) and you’ve turned the wheels (so the steering wheels would hit the curb) to put the car in neutral and very very slowly let it roll until hit touches the curb (but not so much that it jumps it). Then even if anything does happen it most likely won’t be able to pick up the inertia required for it to get over the curb. Of course this doesn’t work without a curb.
Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB
Joey, I think you’d have to do this very gently, and stop as soon as you touch the curb, so as not to damage your tires if you do this often. It’s not hitting the curb but standing for a long time with a sharp dent in the tire that is harmful.
I learned some questionable things in driving school. One was to always pull the parking brake. Not the brightest idea in deep winter. Another was to stand in first gear at a red light, foot on the clutch (manual transmission). Presumably, you’d be able to start sooner when the green light came on, with less risk of stalling the engine in a hurry, especially as a beginner. But I think it’s not unlikely for some greenhorn to slip off the pedal some day and crash into the car in front of him.
Nothing like being critical and making up your own mind.
In deep winter…yup, and don’t lock your doors either.
Of course we won’t mention that someone will try the Lewinsky Reach maneuver while standing on the clutch at a red light!