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  8 1 I use it almost every time I park. Seattle has lots of hills. kitschnsync answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  5 1 I have an automatic, and I use my parking brake every time I park the car. I thought everyone did. Do some people really not use it? Emily Steed answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by oh whatev, mind… 0 0 The cars I drive are sticks, and I use it every time as well. oh whatev, mind commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  5 1 Speak for yourself. elenchos answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  4 1 Every time I park the car. Are there really people who don't? Kip Waddle answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  4 1 Every time I park a car. (former member) answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 I've always either owned a manual transmission or a newer automatic... can't say maintaining mine has ever been an issue. I've always used mine when parking. RM answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 1 Yeah, every time. I remember to set the brake more often than I remember to take the keys with me. I regard someone who doesn't set his brake to be a menace to society (like all those people you see who turn their wheels out instead of in when parking on a hill). Fnarf answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by Mahtli69, Fnarf, and "Cagey"… 0 0 If you're aimed uphill, you're supposed to aim your wheels out. Mahtli69 commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 You know what I meant. The wrong way. Every time I park on a hill at least one car near me has gone to some trouble to aggressively turn the wheels so the car will roll into the street if the brake fails. Fnarf commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 How many times have you seen a brake fail? I've only seen it happen twice in 50 years. Once when my mother left the car in gear, thinking that would hold it on a hill... and another college frat boy left his VW bug on a hill, it rolled down hill into the shopping center parking lot, missing everyone except the one coed who was stading next to the telephone poll, waiting for the bus, and... well, you get the picture... He dropped out of school. "Cagey" commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 2 A parking brake is just a cable connected to the regular rear brakes on your car, bypassing the hydraulic system. So, essentially, you use it every time you apply your brakes while driving. The only part you don't use while driving is the hand lever. And doesn't everyone use it when parking, especially on a hill? Mahtli69 answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by Jack, Jon, and Mahtli69… 0 0 That's true on older cars with rear drums, but on cars with rear discs, there actually is a separate parking brake assembly. It's usually like a little miniature drum brake set-up inside the rear brake rotors. And you Seattlites are spoiled by your temperate winters and lack of salt trucks-- if you lived somewhere with real winters you'd know that not using the parking brake at all will lead to that cable getting stuck from rusting. Jack commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Even in our climate, I believe it is still important to engage the parking brake from time to time in order to apply tension to the cable, otherwise it can get stiff. Jon commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 OK, fair enough. However, I think it's been determined in the comments that most sane people engage their hand brake each time they park. After checking the Googles, it turns out that many cars with rear disc brakes also get their calipers actuated mechanically by the hand brake lever. However, others do have a separate drum braking system, as Jack said. I had no idea this was an option, but then my POS Honda has rear drum brakes. Mahtli69 commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 1 Here's what the thing that stops your car from rolling away if it's only in park looks like: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2LykxJeXHeA/R9lBa3Lrh8I/AAAAAAAAA_o/kLyNOgy-zlg/Transmission+014.jpg Do you really trust that to hold back all two tons of car? Jack answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by Jon, Jack, and oh whatev, mind… 0 0 Actually yes. Provided it isn't leaking tranny fluid like that one. I still use the hand break, though, mostly because I don't like car rolling and settling into park when people are trying to get in/out. Jon commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 The tranny fluid has nothing to do with the proper operation of the parking pawl-- it's entirely mechanical (plus that one's disassembled on someone's work bench). Seriously, though, the parking pawl is not designed to routinely hold the weight of the vehicle especially on a hill. They were just added onto automatics so they would also have a backup in case the parking brake fails (like a standard transmission has from the engine compression). The proper procedure (which I'm sure your owner's manual mentions) when parking is to set the parking brake, then put it in park. Then when you're leaving, you put the transmission in gear and then release the parking brake. This makes it so there's never any weight on the pawl. These days they realize many people do not properly use the parking brake so they design them so they usually won't just outright break and fail. But if you're consistently having the weight of the car on a hill on the pawl, you're eventually going to bend it or wear out the little housing thing it sits in. That leads to the annoying situation where you can't get the stupid thing OUT of park and you're eventually looking at paying someone many hundreds of dollars to take it apart and fix it. Jack commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Somehow I'm able to drive a few feet even with the hand brake on. [Maybe I'm not setting it hard enough.] oh whatev, mind commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I don't drive automatics, so I pretty much use mine every time I need to wait for a red light or stop sign on a hill, and I routinely use it when I park as well. Geni answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 1 Maybe it's from driving a stick for the first 12 years of my driving life but I use it every single time. Remembering to put my car in park before I try to take my key out of the ignition, now that's a different story. Jaime Kennedy answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 1 I've known some people who almost never set the parking brake. They tend to be the type of people who have their heads up their asses at all times. And when I had a car I always set the parking brake. keshmeshi answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 1 I use 894723984738974 times a day. Amanda answered in Trips & Travel over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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