Foot on the brake

[Bunkermagnet]

Straight into the car in front of you in the queue.

Ah but if you had left enough of a gap, as per the Highway Code and common sense, you wouldn't be able to touch the car in front.
in any case, insurance would pass all the blame through to the initial car that caused the contact. Resulting impacts would all ultimately be passed back to that offending motor.

 

[londonlewis]

I only tend to put the handbrake on at night time as it's frustrating sitting behind big red lights at night.

 

[Smiffy]

Ah but if you had left enough of a gap, as per the Highway Code and common sense, you wouldn't be able to touch the car in front.
in any case, insurance would pass all the blame through to the initial car that caused the contact. Resulting impacts would all ultimately be passed back to that offending motor.

What gap does the highway code recommend at traffic lights then? Common sense may come into it, but I don't think the highway code lays down any recommendations?
And I guess the guy or lady that you have just gone into the back of because you didn't put your handbrake on would be much happier when you let them know it's all the guy behinds fault anyway
Especially if they were going to be crippled up with a back injury and whiplash.

 

[USER1999]

The hand brake only locks the back wheels though. Depending on what hits you, it could lift the rear up a bit, and you effectively have no brakes on. Keep your foot on the brakes and all the wheels are stopped. Safer in my view.

 

[dewsweeper]

What an enlightening thread.
Learnt a lot about modern parking brakes,very interesting .
Even more about boorish human behaviour !!!

 

[Smiffy]

The hand brake only locks the back wheels though. Depending on what hits you, it could lift the rear up a bit, and you effectively have no brakes on. Keep your foot on the brakes and all the wheels are stopped. Safer in my view.

Murph. I can almost guarantee that if you were shunted up the arse with enough force to lift the rear of your car up a bit, your feet wouldn't be on the brake pedal.

 

[Imurg]

What gap does the highway code recommend at traffic lights then? Common sense may come into it, but I don't think the highway code lays down any recommendations?.

We teach "Tyres and Tarmac". Keep the back tyres of the car in front in view plus a bit of tarmac = approximately half a car length or about 2 metres

 

[clubchamp98]

I sell (and drive) the new Nissan Qashqai (can't get much more modern than that) which comes with an electronic park brake.
The brake lights do not stay on when I apply it, they only stay on when I have my foot on the brake pedal.
Hence why I thought there was something wrong.
Thank you for your concern, but my knowledge of modern cars has enabled me to earn a comfortable living for the past 30 years.

you seem to think my car has a problem it's a 66 Golf match with an electronic parking brake.
when I come to a halt at the lights say , as soon as the car comes to a complete stop the auto brake comes on ( green light on dash tells you it's on) .
i can get out of the car walk round and the brake lights are still on!
just because your car doesn't is no reason to think no one else has a different system.
this in my opinion is why we are discussing this topic as most people seem unaware of this including your mec.

 

[Smiffy]

you seem to think my car has a problem it's a 66 Golf match with an electronic parking brake.
when I come to a halt at the lights say , as soon as the car comes to a complete stop the auto brake comes on ( green light on dash tells you it's on) .
i can get out of the car walk round and the brake lights are still on!
just because your car doesn't is no reason to think no one else has a different system.
this in my opinion is why we are discussing this topic as most people seem unaware of this including your mec.

If you read the part you quoted again, I say "Hence why I thought there was something wrong"
If that's the way your brake lights work then great.
It just seemed strange to me as I've never seen that before so I apologise.

 

[clubchamp98]

If you read the part you quoted again, I say "Hence why I thought there was something wrong"
If that's the way your brake lights work then great.
It just seemed strange to me as I've never seen that before so I apologise.

theres no need to apologise I have not seen it before.
but as you sell cars I was shown how it works by the salesman at Dane VW when I got the car he rode shotgun to show me all the tec.

its got adaptive cruise control you can just steer the car it does the rest .
if the car in front slows to a stop my car will stop behind it , brake on and cut the engine , when car pulls away in front my car starts engine ,brake off and will follow at set distance and speed.

Even with ACC off this might be why the lights stay on I really don't know but a lot of cars have this system now.

i don't use it much as it takes some getting used to
i have worked with machines all my life and don't trust them enough they all go wrong eventually.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Ah but if you had left enough of a gap, as per the Highway Code and common sense, you wouldn't be able to touch the car in front.
in any case, insurance would pass all the blame through to the initial car that caused the contact. Resulting impacts would all ultimately be passed back to that offending motor.

Not sure there is any Highway Code guidance on the distance you leave between your car and one in front when stationary at lights etc. In any case - not applicable to the incident my wife was involved in. No car in front. Even with handbrake on she was sent spinning into the path of traffic. She was very lucky. Handbrake off - who knows where she'd have ended up.

 

[clubchamp98]

Hate to say it mate, but there is something wrong somewhere. They shouldn't do that.

By the way you DID say there was something wrong not you THOUGHT there was

 

[Smiffy]

By the way you DID say there was something wrong not you THOUGHT there was

As far as I was aware, all parking brakes work along the same way. The fact that the car I have doesn't leave it's brake lights on when it comes on is case in point.
I have spoken to a mate of mine who works for a VW dealership and he confirmed that when the "hill hold assist" comes on, the brake lights do in fact stay on.
But that's not the "parking" brake. Will update when I hear more.

 

[richart]

As far as I was aware, all parking brakes work along the same way. The fact that the car I have doesn't leave it's brake lights on when it comes on is case in point.
I have spoken to a mate of mine who works for a VW dealership and he confirmed that when the "hill hold assist" comes on, the brake lights do in fact stay on.
But that's not the "parking" brake. Will update when I hear more.

Worse thing on my car is the hill hold assist. Hate it and it appears you can not turn it off. I have been holding cars on the clutch for over 30 years, so don't need any help.

 

[clubchamp98]

View attachment 21644

As far as I was aware, all parking brakes work along the same way. The fact that the car I have doesn't leave it's brake lights on when it comes on is case in point.
I have spoken to a mate of mine who works for a VW dealership and he confirmed that when the "hill hold assist" comes on, the brake lights do in fact stay on.
But that's not the "parking" brake. Will update when I hear more.

this is the page from my manual it is called AUTO HOLD and is a function of the parking brake .
it doesn't mention hill assist anywhere.
as this comes on all the time not just on hills.

sorry it's upside down but I could not get it to right.

 

[ScienceBoy]

You need to get out more!

I already knew that

Reading this tread I'm kind of sorry I brought this up, it was just some observations on a murky morning and dark commute

 

[Fish]

Wow, what a read 😜

I'd like to add, that when I'm sat in my car I am only interested in the fact that I am in control of it, what's lit up, flashing or whirling outside of it I don't give a hoot, if that affects anyone else then they are too close imo 😜

 

[dewsweeper]

Wow, what a read 😜

I'd like to add, that when I'm sat in my car I am only interested in the fact that I am in control of it, what's lit up, flashing or whirling outside of it I don't give a hoot, if that affects anyone else then they are too close imo 😜

Even on a rainy evening in slow ,crawling traffic constantly coming to a halt every few yards?
Such a hard job to reach out and operate the hand brake!
Too many drivers cocooned in their modern ,comfortable cars completely oblivious to other road users.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Wow, what a read 😜

I'd like to add, that when I'm sat in my car I am only interested in the fact that I am in control of it, what's lit up, flashing or whirling outside of it I don't give a hoot, if that affects anyone else then they are too close imo 😜

You may be - but you have no control over what drivers and pedestrians around you might do - and what they do of course might well affect you. And so you should be interested in, or at least attentive to, what others are doing.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Blimey that was a struggle to read

I mainly drive hopefully using common sense. If I'm going to be stopped for a minute then I'll apply the handbrake , if it's possibly for seconds then I'll use the brake. Just use judgement and common sense ( rare on the roads I would suggest )