Does anyone else drive a manual - Parkbrake clutch confusion. :o

That's a shocker! good old Torana handbrake lol

 

lol at least you didn't mash it up!

 

haha gold! call it a lesson in defensive driving

 

I have momentary "goose" (love that expression) moments either way around between manuals (stick-shift) and autos.

In a manual, I either almost stall it by "forgetting" to press the clutch in; or in an auto, punching in the fictitious clutch in between the emergency brake and the brake pedal.

Normally it is only in the short change over period between the two.

 

In the same situation as Uart.

I drive a 5-speed manual tranny Camry. I have never slammed down the parking brake by mistake, but I find the actual brake pedal of the Prius to be much more sensitive than other vehicles I drive -- and I typically drive a number of different rigs each week for work from passenger cars to cargo vans, dump trucks to 15-passenger vans -- some manual and some automatic.

So, when I do -- rarely -- drive the Prius, I nearly always "slam" on the brakes, upsetting passengers, drinks and anything else not cinched down in the Prius. Touchy pedal on the Prius.

 

I feel your pain. The Prius is the only non-manual transmission in my household's fleet of three, so crossover mistakes do happen. But not this particular one, yet, as the Prius parking brake is not really lined up with the clutches of the others.

I'm more prone to forget the clutch in the manual. My spouse is more prone to go for the fictitious clutch and hit the regular service brake, both in the Prius and in rental cars.

 

great story u! i used to look for the clutch in my wife's minivan before starting, when i was driving a miata.

 

Brave of you to share but we're all human.

I recall I did the clutch pedal stomp when I got into my other cars when I owners my BMW wagon! It's the default, hold the brake and clutch I'm used to so that's what I did when I got in. It's been a few years and now I just bought a weekend car, a 911S 6 speed manual.. wonder if I will start doing that mistake again? I doubt it since it's what you're used to driving on a regular basis.

 

I can completely see that happening. Driving a vehicle with a gearbox is one of those subconscious skill sets. I guess we have to make sure our brain knows which programming to use. I've certainly faux-pas'ed in the past when switching vehicles but now, I think the two are so different that my brain just knows. When driving the old trucklet in winter boots, the brake pedal sometimes ends up under the boot when trying to stab the clutch in, though.

 

Thats a stunt car driver move there. Slam on the parking brake and whip the wheel a little and you'll do a perfect 180 and be headed the other way.

 

When I drove automatic and manual back and forth every day, including parking one into the spot of the other (requiring going back and forth between the two), I never did make any mistake.

But with both Prius I test drove at first stop I slammed the brake pedal with left foot.

 

Goodness! I thought I was the only one suffering from the temporary transitional faux pax, when switching from my Prius to a manual transmission car. Last Saturday, I had to drop my wife's 2003 Vauxhall Corsa off at a garage 6 miles away, for urgent repairs. Somehow, she'd broken one of the front coil springs. Don't ask! I'd been dreading driving her car because I'd not driven a manual for at least 18 months! She'd flown off to Norway for the weekend, so, I couldn't wriggle out of driving her car. Sure enough, in the first 2 miles, I'd managed to stall it twice, repeatedly forgotten to press the clutch when coming to a halt in traffic, and struggled with choosing gears. Don't get me started on the jerky ride quality of the vehicle, and the complete lack of regenerative "electromagnetic" braking that I have come so much to rely upon! I was like a learner driver all over again. Fortunately, after 2 miles, my driving skills in this "primitive car" improved dramatically, and soon, I didn't have to think about what I was doing anymore. I feel your pain! Conversely, recently, I started using a different detour home on my commute, that I haven't used since I had my old manual transmission Mazda MX-3. Coming up to a tight roundabout, I kept dropping my hand from the steering to a now non existent manual gear stick, to drop back a gear and swing through the roundabout before powering away as I would do in my MX-3. Happened 3 times at least, recently. I realised that some operational info is permanently encoded into our brains, when we drive!


iPhone 6s +

 

I have not really had 'clutch' issues lately, but my wife laughs when every time I come to a stop I shift 'back' into D. It has been 7 years and I still do it. I had driven manuals since '69.

 

I wonder why they use a '60s American car style foot brake? I keep grabbing for the hand brake that's not there.

 

Just stick your "clutch" foot out of the window while driving- problem solved!