I don’t use a parking brake on hilly starts, and have no problem with rollback. It was a much bigger problem when I was first driving stick, but at this point, I ease my foot off the clutch and onto the gas and just teeter there without moving either way on a hill until it’s time to go if I want to. Which probably isn’t good for the car, either, but you gotta entertain yourself sometimes.
Pretty much. When I drove a stick, I almost never used the parking brake when stopped on a hill. I know I did once, on a steep hill in San Francisco, but even then, it was because I wanted to try it. (It wasn’t hard to do, but I’d been driving a stick for ten or fifteen years.)
ahh..I see what you are saying now. I doubt they are more then a minute or two. Just seems way longer–call it poetic license in my post! I am near Seattle for what it is worth. Yes I would agree it is at most 60-90 seconds but I swear when I am in a hurry it is like 10 minutes!
Honestly, when I do use the parking brake on a hill, I feel kind of wussy. In my mind, it’s something that people who can’t actually drive a stick do. Part of learning how to drive a stick (for me) was stopping on steep hills and learning how to start back up without using the parking brake.
There are days/times/road conditions where I’ll use the parking brake, but I’m not happy with myself when I do it.
My husband’s Subaru won’t roll back when taking off on an incline. I don’t know what this feature is called. He’s becoming spoiled.
Other: because it’s situational. Basically the same as HM The only time I’ve ever burned out a clutch is when I had a shitty old car I couldn’t afford to get a starter on for months, so I push-started it.
Exactly.
In a car- keep it in gear, feet on clutch and brake. If it’s going to be a long light or wait, I put it in neutral just to keep my feet from cramping.
On a motorcycle- definitely keep it in gear, just in case I need to get out of the way of something.
Keep it in gear. I ride a motorcycle so it’s not worth shifting unless you just caught the light and are going to be there for a few minutes.
In a manual? I have actually forgotten, haven’t driven one for 10+ years. That said I learned in a manual and as other Brits have posted the driving test* here requires you to put it in neutral with the handbrake on, and everyone learns the handbrake style ‘hill start’ so it simply becomes the way you start moving, hill or no hill. Makes total sense at lights since the most likely incident by far is being back-ended and in neutral with the handbrake on means 1) The back wheels are locked so you’re not going to roll forward 2) the engine isn’t engaged to drive you into what’s in front if your left foot slips.
My Merc’ has a foot-on hand-off parking brake so in the manual version (if it exists) you wouldn’t need three feet for a ‘hill start’.
You can take an ‘automatic’ test but then you’re restricted to driving automatics, practically everyone learns to drive (ahem) stick*.
**this is pretty wussy compared to the Finnish, if Top Gear is anything to go by they all learn to four-wheel drift. On ice.
Neutral, handbrake (though both our cars are autos these days). A lady friend of mine not long after I’d passed my car test commented sniffily on this, expecting I’d be slow away from the green light. She was surprised to see that as soon as the light went red-and-amber that I was already into a nicely grooved clutch-out-in-first-brake-off-clutch-in routine, and we were off as soon as the light was green. 
Yep, it’s called Hill Holder.
When I was in Spain this past winter I rented a 2011 Seat Leon that had this feature and it was pretty useful when I was on a steep hill, but probably unnecessary as I’ve become accustomed to driving a manual transmission in hilly places.
Well, hell, most Canadians learn that, too, but not usually on purpose. 
It doesn’t hurt the park brake that I’m aware of, if you do it properly you release the park brake just as you engage the clutch, so you are never actually attempting to move the car with the park brake engaged.
As other posters have said about the park brake, in Australia it is an essential part of the drivers test. The demonstrated ability to do a park brake hill start. IIRC it is one of the ‘big’ items, that if you are unable to do one given three attempts you fail the test. That’s the way it used to be when I got my licence which admittedly is >15 years ago.
I’m not sure that push starting a car could cause the clutch to burn out. I used to roll my '94 Saturn out of the driveway in reverse and pop the clutch to start it all the time, from when it was brand new. I put 120,000 hard miles on it in 2 1/2 years and traded it in with the original clutch. The hydraulic clutch cylinder had a leak after 100k, requiring fluid to be added once in a while, but the clutch still worked perfectly.
I lucked out finding my current car, a low-mileage Honda CR-V with manual. I’m saddened by the fact that mainstream car companies are increasingly phasing out manual transmission, and eventually, I may never find it again unless I buy a Porsche.
If, ostensibly, just holding in the clutch while at a red light would wear out a clutch, then continually popping the clutch in a push start (regardless of intensity of said “pop”) would certainly apply more wear to it.
But then, as I said earlier, I’ve never lost a clutch due to normal usage, and that’s after putting on 100K - 150K miles on a number of various makes and models. So whatever wear may be, it’s insignificant in my estimation.
When I took drivers’ ed. we were told to keep the car in gear so you were all set to gun it and get the hell out of the way in an emergency, wear to the car be damned.
Correlation not equalling causation, I don’t think push starting the car caused premature wear to the clutch.
Eta: what wears out a clutch at a red light is not FULLY DEPRESSING THE CLUTCH PEDAL. You have a stationary vehicle, a motor idling at 800 rpm, and the friction material lightly grinding away and generation heat to the flywheel.
THAT part I can readily buy. I’ve known drivers who constantly leave their foot on the clutch while driving, thinking they’re only staying ready. When, in reality, the clutch is slightly depressed. Same, as you said, about sitting at a light, with just a little friction point engaged but not enough to make the car go forward.
For that reason, I do make sure the clutch is all the way when idling, and my foot is completely off it when driving. But not everyone is perfect like me. Kinda like those people with automatic transmissions that drive with one foot on the gas, and the other on the brake. Swearing that they really are NOT pushing on the brake at all, but you see them on the highway with permanent brake lights. And scorched brake pads. But while similar, it’s a different topic.
Me, due to driving manual transmission most of the time, I just never got into the habit of using my left foot for the brake.