Do you always use the parking brake?

Some new cars have a push button parking brake like the VW passat. The Prius should automatically engage the parking brake when the vehicle is turned off.

I always use mine, it's too easy to not use it, and the one in a million chance something could happen. I always hate the "roll" that happens when you're on a slight hill, you park the car and as you get out the car rolls a few inches until the gear catches it. Years and years of that abuse cannot be good and eventually might lead to a failure (again maybe a long shot, but why risk it)

 

Use the parking brake every time you park and leave the vehicle. It's there for a reason.

I have seen too many instances of vehicle transmissions slipping out of "Park," thereby allowing the vehicle to roll and strike objects. One case I remember particularly well resulted with an Air Force Security Forces (SF) airman being fired from his position and a fifteen million dollar military aircraft nearly widing up in the junk yard.

The SF troop had been directed to respond to unusual activity on an Air Force flightline filled with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aircraft. This individual pulled up in his Dodge pickup and parked facing a Boeing KC-135E Stratotanker, his first mistake. The KC-135 is the size of a commercial airliner and is AF version of a flying gas station used to refuel other aircraft while in flight.

He placed the automatic transmission in "Park," left the engine running, did not use the parking brake - his second and third mistakes, and jumped out of the vehicle to ascertain if a problem actually existed. He was talking with aircraft mechanics when one of them yelled out that the truck was moving. Everyone spun around to witness the truck accelerating toward the airplane. The driver sprinted toward the moving vehicle but it was in vain as the the truck impacted the aircraft where the leading edge of the wing meets the fuselage (the fuselage is the the tubular body of the aircraft where passengers ride). The impact was hard enough, I was told, that the entire jet shuddered and the nosewheel moved sideways a couple of inches.

This one event took the aircraft out of service for over a year and nearly put it into the airplane bone-yard at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ. The airman made several mistakes: 1) parking the pickup in a direction facing the jet, 2) leaving the engine running while the vehicle was left unattended, and 3) failing to use the parking brake. Each mistake, if avoided, might have prevented this costly mishap.

What's my point? The point is that mechanical products sometimes fail to function in the manner for which they were designed. Automobiles are no exception and are capable of causing extensive damage, injury or death. Many instances presently on the books detail personal injury and property damage resulting from moving vehicles that were placed in "Park."

Imagine with me for a moment:

YOU: "...but Your Honor, how could this happen? I put my car in 'Park.' It's not supposed to move if it's in 'Park,' right?"

JUDGE: "Did you set the parking brake?"

YOU: "Well, no. I only use it on inclines."

JUDGE: "Why only on inclines? Parking brakes are back-up systems to prevent your vehicle from moving while it's unattended in any parking situation. You failed to prudently use all available safety systems that were present in your car at the time you purchased it. That's neglegent behavior." etc., etc.

I guarantee such a person will have a difficult time proving their innocence in such a situation. Use your parking brake. It makes no sense, whatsoever, not to.

 

Living in relatively flat country, I only set the BRAKE* when parking on a significant slope, depending on the pawl most of the time. One possible advantage of setting the BRAKE* is keeping the cable stretched to avoid any drag on the rear wheel drum BRAKEs. Trouble is, I set it so infrequently that I sometimes back out without realizing it's on.

*BRAKE: "any device for checking speed" (Webster)
BREAK: "to shatter by force" (Webster)

*SIGH* - Seems schools must have ceased teaching spelling and grammar. Either that, or proof reading is passé.

 

My last car had the parking brake between the seats and I used it all the time. I'm afraid I use the one in the Prius when I'm parking on an incline.

 

What parking brake?

 

My car moves with and without the break. That is because when in park-position, it locks axel so that it cannot rotate using something called "latch bar" or something. I don't know any details, but it sounds like enough for somewhat flat terrain.

Anyway, how many of you bother pressing the park-button? I personally just power off since it seems to do the job while going down.

 

OH MY GAWD! We're becoming an episode of LOST. Should we, or shouldn't we, push the BUTTON? What will happen if we don't? Come to think of it...what will happen? :blink:

When I took Driver's Ed they always made us set the parking brake, so the first time I borrowed my Dad's car, I set his. Now, mind you, my Dad had cars before we knew what automatic transmissions were. He blasted me for setting the parking brake (mainly b/c he couldn't figure out why the car wouldn't move) and told me that if Park didn't mean Park, then what the heck did I think it meant. So I never set it again on a car with an automatic transmission unless I was on a hill.

By the way, Seaside Harry, love the avatar.

 

Always. I'd rather have two things have to fail for the car to move than one.

 

I always hit the park button and I always use the brake.

 

There is this big red BRAKE warning right by the seatbelt light that comes on when the parking brake is even a little bit depressed. I hope I will notice that if the brake is left part way on. Anyway when I use it, usually just on hills, I try to remember to put it on tight enough so the car can't move.

I really don't much care for this "push on push off" foot thing Toyota has come up with. I much prefer the lever by the seat type.

 

"The 'garage?' Hey fellas, the 'garage'! Well, ooh la di da, Mr. French Man."

"Well what do you call it?"

"A car hole!"

 

I don't like the little bit of movement back and forth that happens when you simply put the car in Park and take your foot off the brake. It always made me feel the car wasn't firmly set, and that the car was still in motion. A little unnerving, so I set the parking brake every single time I step out of my car.

 

I really hope that if they change it back to normal, then they would also add a armrest to the seat. Personally I think it is now where it belongs to: out of sight, out of the way. I have a habbit to keep my Garmin navigator at the center box when I don't use it.

 

I too have been using the parking brake since forever, more or less.

...saw a movie a couple years ago though that made me glad I do:

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0161061/

Mother and daughter lose everything when their car rolls off a cliff--she forgot to set the PB. They're stranded in in the middle of nowhere in Patagonia. (a rather good film BTW)

Unlikely, perhaps, but the additional motion to set/release the brake takes only a fraction of a second. Worth it for peace of mind.

 

My car has a TV tuner built in with the NAVI system. Of course I wouldn't watch while driving, nor would I ask for a passenger to be able to watch while I'm driving, I'm sure it would distract me. However, the only way to be able to see the video is to engage the parking brake. (Otherwise, the screen is blank and only audio can be heard.)

I'm not a big fan of the parking brake, so I don't understand why one can't watch TV in PARK. The car is not going anywhere in park.

Are Prii in other countries like this as well? Anyone know of a way to alter this?