In ten years of living on our street we’ve had four handbrake failures from parked cars. On Saturday I was workung under the car and I heard that familiar crunch of car on car. A new Focus ST had rolled down the hill and hit a neighbours car. A slightly different trajectory and it could have taken me out or hit one of my kids who were out playing, since it was completely silent.

Leave your car in gear on hills. Handbrake failures happen!

I don’t use my handbrake – it just stretches the cable, which subsequently needs replacing.

And wheels turned.

Wheels turning is the problem

don’t use my handbrake – it just stretches the cable, which subsequently needs replacing.

Is that a Viz top tip or are you driving something from 1959 without a self adjusting hand brake 🙂

Leave your car in gear on hills. Handbrake failures happen!

And the wheels turned into the kerb

I don’t use my handbrake – it just stretches the cable, which subsequently needs replacing.

Yeh I get that as I generally don’t use the brakes at all when driving, just wears the pads and discs, which would need replaced and it puts brake dust on the wheels which would need cleaned. Not using the brakes is win win for me, I just drive really slowly and use the gears, its saved me a bloody fortune.

Is that a Viz top tip or are you driving something from 1959 without a self adjusting hand brake

Best not to start the engine either, it just uses petrol, which needs replacing.

I have an auto. In case I ever park in molgrip’s road.

Handbrakes don’t just fail by braking…on lots of cars the handbrake acts on the brake disc instead of a separate drum. So when you parked up with hot brakes, the disc contracts as it cools, and the handbrake starts to release.

If you walk up a steep hill, its amazing how many cars are out of gear with the wheels straight. Even residential streets where the drivers park there every day. (I live on one…drive is even steeper so my van gets double chocked with big rubber wheel chocks)

I tried releasing the handbrake on our car and started turning the engine over until it was merrily chugging down the drive in 1st gear!)

(our insurance company actually quoted a cheaper premium for on street parking, they didn’t understand but I know its because the road in our postcode crosses the hill and is only a gentle incline, but all the drives are about 1 in 4. Lots of claims for cars rolling off driveways!)

Had the same on our street years ago when a car rolled down the hill and ended up stuck on the wall at the end of road.
More recent an huge RV that had been causing parking problems on the in-laws street as it was parked outside anybodies house other than the owners ended up in at the bottom of the street parked in someones living room. I suspect a neighbour had done it or even the owner as they’d also had it up for sale for a while before.

I suspect a neighbour had done it or even the owner as they’d also had it up for sale for a while before.

What deliberately let off the handbrake and let it roll down a hill, out of control, and into someones house?

Yeh I get that as I generally don’t use the brakes at all when driving, just wears the pads and discs, which would need replaced and it puts brake dust on the wheels which would need cleaned. Not using the brakes is win win for me, I just drive really slowly and use the gears, its saved me a bloody fortune.

😆 😆

What *is* the point of the handbrake, though? If it’s more secure to just leave it in gear, then why not just do that?

Or, move to the Cambridge area, I often forget to put my hand brake on and leave the car in neutral and it’s always in the same place I left it.

What *is* the point of the handbrake, though?

Getting round tight corners.

It could have hit a baby robin’s face!

It could have hit a baby robin’s face!

Interesting vid on how ‘Park’ works on an automatic…

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh988eSAPc8[/video]

spooky_b329 – Member

Handbrakes don’t just fail by braking…on lots of cars the handbrake acts on the brake disc instead of a separate drum. So when you parked up with hot brakes, the disc contracts as it cools, and the handbrake starts to release.

I’ve had this happen before & would hazard a guess that it’s a more frequent occurrence than the cable snapping.

There’s a really steep road near my parents that I walked over last time I was there – I didn’t see one car parked with the wheels turned into the kerb.

What *is* the point of the handbrake

Doughnuts obvs

Well I always use handbrake and gears cos the drive is quite steep but it was a bit awkward when my driveshaft snapped and then I broke the handbrake cable pulling it tight.

That is interesting, thanks.

Or, move to the Cambridge area, I often forget to put my hand brake on and leave the car in neutral and it’s always in the same place I left it.

no hills you say…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/7pmd2e]River Lane covered in ice[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

see this car sized hole in the railings next to the river….

[url=https://flic.kr/p/7pq6KW]Car sized hole in railings at bottom of River Lane[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

no hills you say…

I think you’re on a slipppery slope.

Doughnuts obvs

You don’t use the handbrake.

Lol @ Trailrat!

Please don’t encourage this parking with it in gear business, my Missus whole family do this despite not living on a road with any gradient.

Amount of times i’ve nearly written cars off!

Amount of times i’ve nearly written cars off!

You don’t check the car is not in gear?

nwmlarge – Member

Please don’t encourage this parking with it in gear business, my Missus whole family do this despite not living on a road with any gradient.

Amount of times i’ve nearly written cars off!

Do you not depress the clutch as a matter of course, when starting the car?? Tsk tsk….. 😉

You don’t check the car is not in gear?

I occasionally have this conversation with my wife:

Her: “You left my car in gear! It lurched forward when I tried to start it and I nearly hit the wall!”
Me: “Why didn’t you check whether it was in gear before you tried to start it”
Her: “I shouldn’t need to, I never leave it in gear!”
Me: “But you’re not the only one that drives. I may occasionally leave it in gear, either by accident or design”
Her: “But you shouldn’t leave it in gear!”
Me: “But occasionally I do. That’s why you should always check if a car is in gear before you start it, because the last person to drive it may have left in in gear”
Her: Her: “I shouldn’t need to, I never leave it in gear!”

And so it goes on…

Amount of times i’ve nearly written cars off!

Do you not check to see if the car is in gear before starting? And how do you write a car off by starting it in gear?

You don’t use the handbrake.

I would never stop to buy doughnuts without using the handbrake.

Is nwmlarge your wife?

I would never stop to buy doughnuts without using the handbrake.

😆

Amount of times i’ve nearly written cars off!

The amount of times someone else has used my van and left it out of gear with the handbrake on! 🙂

Do you not depress the clutch

I often wear new shoes to impress the clutch

Is nwmlarge your wife?

Nope, but I’m always open to offers. Is he fit?

People who work in car showrooms always leave the damned cars in gear. You may depress the clutch on starting but there will always be a few that catch you out and lurch forwards when you release the pedal. It drives me nuts.

When I lived in Paris you had to leave the handbrake off because other drivers would use their bumpers to nudge cars to create space to park. Luckily it was flat where I lived.

You may depress the clutch on starting but there will always be a few that catch you out and lurch forwards when you release the pedal. It drives me nuts

But you should check the car isn’t in gear using the gear stick anyway.

Why would you release the clutch without checking if its in gear or not? I’m confused.

Do people still press the button when applying the hand brake to avoid wearing out the ratchet?
Or is it just me?

I always leave mine in gear, even on level ground. Surprising how many people have tried to start my car over the years and have it lurch forward / back because they’ve not even pushed in the clutch let alone checked the gearstick.

I wonder how many of them are those stupid electronic handbrakes? The only time I remember having a car roll away is when I’ve jumped out in an emergency and the e-brake’s not applied because I’ve not quite been at an absolute stop.

I was always taught to leave the car in gear with the handbrake on and the wheels turned to the kerb, and I always check with a manual vehicle that it’s in neutral before starting it, force of habit.

Leaving the car in gear and the handbrake off didn’t work out too well for Phil Leotardo.

You may depress the clutch on starting but there will always be a few that catch you out and lurch forwards when you release the pedal. It drives me nuts.

Learn to drive.

Start the car with the clutch down, then you’re turning less of the transmission with the starter motor. Continue to hold the clutch in, select a gear, release the handbrake if it’s a manual one, drive off. Why are you starting a car if you’re not going anywhere?

Seriously, this was on like my first driving lesson.