Do you use parking brake?

I do not use the parking brake in cold weather and rarely use it unless on a steep incline.

 

I've used the parking brake on my ford mustang convertible when I got stuck in the snow.
I would apply it very gently until the spinning tire quit spinning, and then was usually free from there.

But on the prius prime it has all that traction stuff, it don't think that that would work anymore.

 

The 2005 Prius had a wider range of give than any automatic transmission I've had before it, so I got in the habit of using the parking brake all the time with it, and continue to do so.

 

For me parking brake use is analogous to seatbelt use: I just apply it all the time.

 

Use mine (well, Pearl S's) all the time. It has never "frozen" or corroded enough to be a problem. If it does corrode in place it just takes a tiny bit of throttle to loosen. The FJ Cruiser, on the other hand, does corrode in place when very wet (overnight), and takes a scary amount of throttle to break loose, and does so with a loud "bang". So I don't use it in the garage. But I do use it everywhere else, just like the Prius.

It's called "proper driving".

 

Some cars now have electric parking brake. Using a foot pedal is starting to seem a bit old fashioned. And with electric it could be programed to set the parking brake automatically whenever you put it in park. With a way to override if for some reason you don't want to set the parking brake.

 

My first car was a 1970 Toyota Corona. Little square thing made of tin. It was an automatic, that had a habit of slipping out of Park and into Reverse and rolling down the street. After the second time a neighbor came knocking on the door to inform me that the car was rolling down the street in reverse, I learned to use the parking break. That was circa 1979....I have used the parking brake religiously on every car ever since.

 

Oh, remembering to release the parking brake is easy. It complains loudly with beeps if you don't. Gee, I wonder how I know that?

 

I work for a self-insured company, and policy requires that we always use the parking brake.
If anybody in my beloved company ever reads this, I always use my parking brake.
Every time.
All the time.

OK.....
SO.....
If I were to drive a Prius in the real world, I would only use the parking brake when parking on an incline or a hill.
Since the fake glaciers during the fake ice-age made some parts of the nation about as topographically diverse as a soccer pitch, sometimes I would go for weeks without using the parking brake-----IF I weren't compelled by company policy to always use my parking brake.
Every time.
All the time.

 

The pawl is stronger than any other piece of the drive train.

 

Does it? It's been a while, but I can't recall a beep. Good idea though.

 

Somebody "told me" it was a series of beeps, that will continue until the brake is released.

There might be a red flashing brake symbol as well..............



..................I wouldn't know for sure.

 

Followed by the 'smoke signals.'

Bob WIlson

 

You'll get the red symbol, that goes on whenever the parking brake is applied. But I don't recall beeps. Maybe confused with reverse beeps?

 

If

If I don't release it, the car won't move!

 

Anytime I do it with a passenger, I explain I'm "cleaning off the brake disks". Rear only, of course.

 

I never use it when parked on flat ground.


iPhone ? Pro

 

I never use parking brakes. And on the Prius, I even have an excuse not to: the manual says to avoid using the parking brake when the temperature is below freezing.

 

Accuse me of gross oversimplification.
But when a vehicle manufacturer provides something called a "Parking Brake".
I use it when parking.
Why Not?

I really can't remember a post or thread where someone bemoaned the tragic decision to routinely use their parking brake.

I'm sure SOMEBODY can come up with a story about how it's usage led to premature sterility, the loss of a beloved pet, or being forced into the front row of a Celine Dion concert. But despite these "risks"...I'm just going to use it.