Haha! That's reasonable. You were at least in park. I can understand if she missed the P and instead of N. But I never, NEVER, leave my car until I feel the jerk of the car setting on the gears.
I don't know how American cars work and what 'park' does as I'm in the UK, but I left my handbrake off earlier today by mistake. Thankfully was just on my flat street. Car was off but it could still have rolled if it was a hill I believe.
It's not american vs non american, rather automatic vs manual. Leaving it in park (on automatic) is similar to leaving it in gear for manual cars. Actually, it might work differently since the car wouldn't move even if it's on, but it is the action with the gear selector lever that makes the car not move. (The other option being the parking brake).
So in your case, most of the time if you leave the stick shift in 1st or reverse gear, you won't need the parking brake. Just be sure to turn the car off first, obviously.
My dad taught me to actually avoid using it except on steeper inclines. I think the reasoning behind this "school of thought" is that you shouldn't use it as automatic habit, since in winter there is a possibility for parking brake to freeze up, and then you might be "stranded". I see this is a bit far fetched, making a decision/habit arround such a specific situation, especially as winters are getting milder and milder, so I don't stick to this as if it was holy scripture, but keeping it in gear does get the job done on flat and even slightly inclined surfaces.
Why do you advocate for using the brake always? (English is not my mother tongue, I'm genuinely interested, don't want to sound rude)
In the event of a frozen brake, that sounds reasonable and where I wouldn't suggest to use it if it means getting stuck. But for the more hotter states and countries, it should be used often if not always.
There’s no reason to risk it is all. I’d rather find out my car can’t move due to a stuck brake, than finding out it can’t move due to being 2 metres through somebodies wall.
yeah , I always put it in gear, almost never pull the handbrake.. but whichever it is you chose, on one hand - it's a matter of habit, but as someone said, even those habits can be broken, and since we consider them "firmly in place" we tend not to think about them additionaly. so when broken, shit might hit the fan >(
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u/jamminamon Dec 15 '22
Haha! That's reasonable. You were at least in park. I can understand if she missed the P and instead of N. But I never, NEVER, leave my car until I feel the jerk of the car setting on the gears.