Back in high school, I worked at a CVS and as I had ended my shift, I was walking through the parking lot when a car started pulling out really slowly right in front of me. I stopped, thinking it was an elderly person or someone ultra cautious. Lo and behold, there was no one behind the wheel. So, I stuck lots of rocks and logs under the tire to stop the rolling and went back to CVS and had the driver paged.
Seems that we were freaked out by a similar occurence eh Rysler?
Being an Englishman (who does not park using the contact method Mr The Head) I was programmed to pull on the handbrake like jjimm whenever the car is stationary, I now drive an auto’ with no handbrake and a ‘parking brake’ where the clutch should be - made a few entertaining sudden stops in my first few weeks.
I didn’t used to use it. Then the first time I drove cross-country by myself, I stopped in Colorado in a little parking lot by a mountain stream, got out, and wandered down to the stream to walk and stretch my legs.
When I got back to the parking lot, my car wasn’t there.
Eventually, I found it, about 500 feet down the mountain road, on the other side, where it had come to rest against the slope of the mountain. I was tremendously, fantastically lucky that nobody was driving up the road while my car was rolling down the road, and that it came to rest against the mountain instead of in the stream bed.
Always. A few years ago I stopped in to a convenience store to get something to drink, and my dog was with me. It was hot out that day so I left the car running so I could leave the a/c on for my dog. I was in a hurry, jumped out, and went into the store. A minute later a lady ran in and said my car was rolling with my dog in it! I must have put it in neutral (5 speed manual) and forgot the brake. Luckily it only rolled about 25-30 feet and came to rest against a curb. My dog was fine, but I stopped to think about what could have happened if I was in a busy place.
I can’t believe that somebody would not use their parking brake, especially in an stick. If it’s an automatic, I guess it’s okay not to use it everytime, but it still smacks of laziness and irresponsibility.
Only on really steep hills. In my last car, I used it every time I parked on a hill (not very often) and every time, my brake line broke. And no, I did not forget to take it off again. I replaced the stupid thing 4 times in 6 months last year. If I never set it, the brake line didn’t break. Now I’m paranoid. I don’t want to have to replace anything on my new car so I don’t use it.
In all my cars (2 autos and my new manual) I always use it. In my one emergency brake encounter it was ready for me to use (the hand brake can seize if you don’t use it normally).
Only in my driveway. A couple of years ago my (then) two year old son got into the car and shifted the transmission out of park. (I wasn’t aware that he could get into the car or that the gear could be shifted with the engine off). Car rolled down the driveway and into the street. Nothing happened fortunately, but once of that is enough for me.
Manual driver here, and yes I always use it when I park.
There is no need to use it at stoplights and such because your regular brakes will do a much better job at holding the vehicle than a parking brake will.
I have a manual tranny; I nearly always use the parking brake when parking.
And because it’s conveniently located at the center console and I have rear-wheel drive (little Mazda pickup) I also use it for fun in the winter on snowy roads!
It’s also handy for stopping the car in the dark with headlights out when you don’t want your brake lights to give you away.
The mechanism that holds an automatic transmission in “Park” is, if working correctly, very sturdy and extremely unlikely to be knocked out of place, causing the car to roll.
Manual tranmissions are much easier to “pop” out of gear and into neutral when the car is stationary, even without the use of the clutch.
Here’s a page that shows how the “Park” function works on an auto tranmission.
I always use mine in the morning, as I’m doing about 45 pulling into the parking lot at work - helps me slide into my spot.
I’m kidding.
I use it every time though - but then I drive a manual. I’m from the UK and failed my test the first time for not applying the handbrake after the emergency stop.
I drive a manual, but I don’t use the parking brake that often. That’s mainly because on my truck, it has a habit of sticking. And unsticking it takes a long time.
I always use it when I leave my car. I don’t at a red light, because, well, that’d be a pain in the ass and I have enough trouble releasing it as it is. That and I’d rather not maximize how much impact me and my car will absorb if rear-ended.
As for parking, well, I live in San Francisco. “High on a hill” didn’t come out of his ass, you know.
Always. When I was about 9 my mother parked in a lot that had a slope. I started getting out the drivers side door, but she told me to get out on the passenger side, away from the rest of the lot. Just as I was closing the door I felt a thump. Some old guy hadn’t set his brake, and his car rolled down the hill and into ours right at the door I would have gotten out of.
Always. I was taught to do so, everyone around me always set the brake, so that’s that.
Out here in Hooterville, A LOT of people don’t set the brake. I can’t figure it out. Even at my last job (working with the developmentally disabled), employees would not set the brake on the company cars. This struck me as very foolish. It’s one thing to not set the brake on your own car, but to not do it on your employer’s car?
Well, I always set the brake on company cars. I am sure I pissed off many a coworker who drove after me, as they probably assumed that the brake was not set. Well, too bloody bad. I didn’t intend to get into deep shit when the car rolled into something or someone else, or (God Forbid) into a client who happened to be passing by. No siree.