If you are stopped for a few minutes you should be looking at your phone. Life is too short to stare as some brake lights.
I always keep tissues in the car just in case I have a couple of minutes spare!!
As Cougar said, the entire Continent of North America sit in traffic with there cars in D all the time. The transmissions are designed to cope with it. They also never use their parking brake, partly because many are foot operated and are a pain to set and release. You watch people Alam it in park and the car rocks back and forth on the parking 'knob' that engages. They also put the release lever next to the bonnet release. I watched a car roll down a hill backwards chase by the owner when the owner released the parking brake instead of the bonnet release and the parking mechanism couldn't hold.
An advanced driving course I did over there used a little known safety feature - if you just push the lever hard enough it'll pop into neutral without having to press the button or, in the case of column shift, pulling it towards you. I don't know how you do that with the dial type selectors. That course also taught you should be looking in your mirrors and surroundings when stopped, not the cars in front....
which is why you were tuaght to put the handbrake every time you stopped in driving lessons years back, and now?. Anyone learned to drive recently?
Nope, but then again my lessons were all in a manual anyway.
2007 for me. Neutral and handbrake on was the instruction from a very anal (and in hindsight very good) instructor, don't know if it's required for the test.
Basic premise being if you get shunted you'll curl up in shock and if you are clutch depressed in 1st gear you'll start driving forwards at about 5-10mph* either into the car infront damaging the expensive end of the car, or out into the junction if youre first in line.
These days I almost always do neutral (as Ive got a stop start car) but wont always do the handbrake
*Underpowered sh!theaps will stall, but most cars will start on the clutch alone.
Rule 114 deals with lights.
You MUST NOT
use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders
use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226).
In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again.
Sounds like Edukator is also forgetting Rule 1.
No, I asked a question because I didn't know. And Rio politely answered the question. In France (where I've been driving for the last 32 years), you're supposed to keep your foot on the brake while stationary at traffic lights, that's what's taught.
Read the car's manual. This will tell you what the manufacturer intended and this is the advice I'd follow.
The auto version of my old Mondeo it specifically said leave it in D with foot on brake. Given I owned a manual version I have no idea why I chose to read that bit other than idle curiosity.