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I have an old Toyota in which the handbrake wire is broken. I have been using the car for few months now and I don't really want to spend more money on it. I now put the car in park and that is it and I had an argument with a friend on this matter. My questions are:

  • do I really have to replace this wire knowing that I use the car to commute and short trips?

  • could this affect the brakes of the car and cause it to fail faster than it is supposed to?

  • is there a better practice?

user76646
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    Do you live in a town with hills, inclines and slopes where you park frequently or infrequently? – DucatiKiller Aug 03 '16 at 19:34
  • Mostly roads with slight inclination. I notice that every time I put the car in park and then remove my leg off the brake pedal, the car moves a little bit then stops. – user76646 Aug 03 '16 at 19:39
  • You need an emergency brake then. – DucatiKiller Aug 03 '16 at 19:40
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    I hardly ever use the emergency brake in my automatic cars. I regularly park on slight hills. However, I would suggest fixing it as it can be useful if you blow a brake hose. Might it just be an adjustment issue? If money is an issue, you might try a local junkyard. – rpmerf Aug 03 '16 at 20:09
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    An operational handbrake may be required by law. Caveat: "Park" setting may or may not qualify as a required secondary braking system. – Agent_L Aug 04 '16 at 08:21
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    Modern (past-1983, that is) brakes in cars are usually inherently redundant ("split service brake system"). That's the reason that, if I read the applicable regulation correctly, there is no legal requirement for an emergency brake. I'd still feel much safer with a hand brake though. It seems such a basic common-sense safety measure in case of a main brake failure (and you did say you have an old car, didn't you? One of your 2.5 brake systems already failed, didn't it?). – Peter - Reinstate Monica Aug 04 '16 at 08:57
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    If you are concerned about parking the car safely (as opposed to stopping it in the first place, which I discussed above), San Francisco has tips for correct parking; specifically, "Curb Your Tires on Hills". – Peter - Reinstate Monica Aug 04 '16 at 09:06
  • It won't be possible to answer the first question without knowing which legal jurisdiction you live in (and you should disregard any answers that ignore that). Please edit the question to provide this information. – JBentley Aug 04 '16 at 11:45
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    I never understood why Americans don't use the handbrake. In England I would never dream of leaving my car without the handbrake on, even if I were preventing it from rolling by leaving it in gear (which I also don't like to do). Of course, this doesn't apply to you because you can't use your handbrake ;) – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 04 '16 at 11:46
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    Sometimes the "park" mechanism fails. Anton Yelchin would probably still be alive if he had used his parking brake: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/anton-yelchins-parents-punish-fiat-chrysler/ – nobody Aug 04 '16 at 13:10
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    @LightnessRacesinOrbit Automatic cars, in Park, have a parking pawl that locks the transmission. Not the same as a standard transmission in gear, which can still roll, although (depending on gear) it's harder to do so. Although the advice is to not use the parking pawl as a handbrake-type device, because the transmission is still under load (on a hill, for example), lots of people do, and therefore the handbrake (or 'emergency brake' as it's often incorrectly called) doesn't actually have that much to do. If the parking pawl breaks (and they do), you can have a really bad day. – PeteCon Aug 04 '16 at 15:04
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    @Pete: Yes I understand that (and I have an automatic car). Perhaps this dodgy "emergency brake" nomenclature is the reason it's so ill-used in the States. But in the UK you'd commonly use your handbrake to park even an automatic. It's treated as just basic common sense. – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 04 '16 at 15:16
  • @PeterA.Schneider - Those tips for parking on hills are great - how do you suppose we could get San Francisco drivers/residents to read it? (Speaking as someone who lived in a hilly part of SF for 10 years ....) – davidbak Aug 04 '16 at 16:44
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    @LightnessRacesinOrbit In Argentina, by contrast, no one puts it in park or uses the handbrake, and people would get very irritated with you if you did! Parallel parking involves pulling to the curb wherever there's room and leaving it in Neutral, so that other drivers can nudge your car forward or backwards if they need to make room. (Unlike San Francisco, most of Argentina is flat as a tabletop.) – Mason Wheeler Aug 04 '16 at 20:23
  • @Mason Actually lol'd! – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 04 '16 at 22:05
  • @LightnessRacesinOrbit: Yo, don't group us all together! I use my handbrake every time. – GManNickG Aug 04 '16 at 22:40
  • @GManNickG: You are excused :D – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 04 '16 at 22:47
  • @Mason: Yep, that's what I've heard about New York too. Many cars there have a bumper protector for this reason. Kinda makes you wonder why nudging the car in front of you when parallel parking is an automatic fail on most driving tests. –  Aug 05 '16 at 03:25
  • If you cause an accident and incur a large liability, and your insurance carrier discovers that your car was lacking required safety equipment, they may decline to indemnify you, leaving you bankrupt. – A. I. Breveleri Aug 06 '16 at 03:43

8 Answers8

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  1. No, its up to you
  2. No
  3. No

Assuming it is an automatic transmission using park is safe, there is a park pawl in the transmission that mechanically locks the output shaft, actually better than a parking brake.

The slight roll forward (or backward depending on incline direction) is normal for an automatic park pawl, the movement of the car rotates the output shaft slightly to engage the pawl.

Only downside is if you are on a steep grade it might require some effort to take it out of park due to the load on the pawl, but does not hurt anything to do so.

generic image of park pawl

enter image description here

Moab
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    I always used to worry about the slight forward movement while on parking gear. Now I'm informed that it is nothing to worry about. – BraveNinja Aug 03 '16 at 20:10
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    I don't remember using hand brake ever on an automatic transmission when the gear it set to Park – Hanky Panky Aug 04 '16 at 06:53
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    The answer to number 1 depends on the jurisdiction, which the OP didn't specify. In the UK for example, it is a criminal offense to drive a car which is not roadworthy. Drivers certify their cars as being roadworthy once per year with a MOT test, and having a working handbrake is one of the criteria that must be passed. Having a certificate doesn't absolve all responsibility - you still must ensure the car is roadworthy throughout the year. – JBentley Aug 04 '16 at 11:43
  • @JBentley: Really, every year? It's enough that us Ontarians have to do en emissions test every two years; glad we only have to get it safetied when it's registered. Wish I lived in Michigan, where anybody can stick a licence plate on any piece of crap and have it be "road-worthy". –  Aug 05 '16 at 03:30
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    Here in New Zealand, its a Warrant of Fitness test every 6 months. Fail the WOF and you're not allowed to drive that car on the road till its fixed. Your insurance is probably not going to be serviced in an accident if you do choose to drive it. – Criggie Aug 05 '16 at 09:15
  • The same goes for the Czech republic (and most of Europe, IIRC) - not a criminal offense, but surely illegal, to drive a car that is not roadworthy (which usually includes a working handbrake). Huge problems in case you cause an accident and your car is inspected. – Pavel Aug 05 '16 at 13:20
  • @JBentley It's illegal in at least some US states, too. Unless you cause an accident, I'm pretty sure you can only be fined and maybe have your license revoked or something, though. – jpmc26 Aug 05 '16 at 22:38
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    @Criggie Wow, every 6 months sounds ... ambitious, taking nto account that you have to coordinate and schedule the test, drive to the test, pay for the test, etc. twice a year. Even we order-fanatic Germans do this only every two years. (And I am regularly having a hard time coordinating even the quick seasonal swapping of tires ...) – Hagen von Eitzen Aug 06 '16 at 14:02
  • @HagenvonEitzen We're veering away from topic, but 6 monthly is good given the average of a vehicle is 14 years in NZ. Mine's 43! – Criggie Aug 07 '16 at 07:28
  • Come to Sri Lanka guys. Emission test once an year and thats it. May get copped if lights are not working, but other than that no checking of tires, hand brake etc. In Kiwiland I had to replace a perfectly working seat belt as there were a few threads sticking out from the side of one belt – Dinesh Aug 10 '16 at 00:46
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According to Wikipedia, this is not advisable:

Most vehicle manufacturers and auto mechanics do not recommend using the transmission's parking pawl as the sole means of securing a parked vehicle, instead recommending it should only be engaged after first applying the vehicle's parking brake. Constant use of only the parking pawl, especially when parking on a steep incline, means that driveline components, and transmission internals, are kept constantly under stress, and can cause wear and eventual failure of the parking pawl or transmission linkage. The pawl might also fail or break if the vehicle is pushed with sufficient force, if the parking brake is not firmly engaged. Replacement can be an expensive operation since it not only requires removing the transmission from the vehicle, it's usually the first component to be installed in the gearbox case during a complete overhaul rebuild.

So while it may be safe, you risk more expensive damage to your vehicle by relying on the parking pawl alone.

Jack Aidley
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    I don't think the increased wear should worry one much on what is already an "old Toyota". But I, personally, would be slightly worried about parking the car on a steep incline. – dan1111 Aug 04 '16 at 10:28
  • Personally, I'd suggest being more worried about an older car as this kind of damage could well render the car uneconomical to repair and may already have sustained some damage. – Jack Aidley Aug 04 '16 at 10:35
  • my thinking was that I would not worry much about a small risk coming from increased wear because it is a low value car which probably doesn't have that many remaining years of service anyway. – dan1111 Aug 04 '16 at 10:50
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    @JackAidley: by the sounds of it, the questioner considers that the potential need to replace the handbrake cable has already rendered this vehicle uneconomical to repair! Really it's a matter of what critical component will fail first, which depends on the condition of the rest of the car. No point extending the life of the transmission from (for example) 2 years to 5 years, if the exhaust is only 1 year from rusting through. But if the transmission is what's in the line of fire then anything that makes it last longer can help. – Steve Jessop Aug 04 '16 at 11:02
  • I think the most important non-safety related consequence of this answer is the potential for expensive, avoidable damage if your car gets towed (e.g. illegally parked). – Jason C Aug 04 '16 at 18:10
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    That is the lawyers speaking for the manufacturers. Its safe and always has been. – Moab Aug 04 '16 at 23:03
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    I'd consider the only relevant part of that Wikipedia quote to be "when parking on a steep incline". If you have an automatic transmission, using the parking brake is wholly optional. Source: years of experience driving and parking on generally level ground without using the parking brake. – aroth Aug 05 '16 at 01:02
  • Apparently some manufacturers have used plastic parking pawls before, and they've broken. Even if it's plastic, I'd say go for it. –  Aug 05 '16 at 03:33
  • Plastic?, that is a myth. – Moab Aug 05 '16 at 13:59
  • Doesn't setting the parking pawl put those components under constant stress regardless of whether or not you also use the handbrake? That "clunk" when you take it out of park is just as loud (I assume a function of the pressure on the transmission parts that has to be overcome) whether the handbrake is on or not. I suspect the thing you're meant to worry about is catastrophic failure if something hits your car while it's parked this way (both more likely, and will result in your car rolling away, if the handbrake isn't set), rather than stress through ordinary usage. – Random832 Aug 05 '16 at 15:28
  • FWIW: Of the two sources cited for this claim in the wikipedia, one says "page not found"; the other has absolutely no mention of constant wear/tear of parts caused by not using the parking brake. – pete Jan 24 '19 at 06:51
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If you live in the UK, this will fail your annual MoT test. (For the benefit of non-Brits, the Ministry of Transport requires a standard annual roadworthiness test for all vehicles.) Other countries may have similar legislation - YMMV depending on where you are.

Graham
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    Not all U.S. states have similar tests, but some do, and this will probably lead to a failure (for the two I checked, Pennsylvania, and NY, the parking brake is required to work). – dan1111 Aug 04 '16 at 10:39
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    Nitpicking, but the test's name is correctly rendered "MOT". – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 04 '16 at 11:44
  • In Italy too: every two years (or after the first four, for a new car) a car must pass a test, which it would fail with a non-functional handbrake (BTW, most cars in Italy use manual transmission). – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike Aug 04 '16 at 22:16
  • @Lightness: I dispute. It stands for Ministry of Transport, so it would make sense as "MoT test". I don't know about the ministry's official acronym, though the "test" is certainly necessary. – ArtOfCode Aug 05 '16 at 22:41
  • Pendant alert, it'll be all upper case, and whilst MOT test is the actual test, you then have an MOT. https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/when-to-get-an-mot also, if you ask a brit about a cars MOT they'll know... Much like asking a Kiwi about a cars warrant (WoF, or warrant of fitness). – RemarkLima Aug 06 '16 at 11:13
  • @ArtOfCode: The name derives from the name of the Ministry, but (a) acronyms do not work that way [if you were to treat the "of" differently you'd omit it entirely], and (b) even if they did, the fact remains that the name of the test is officially styled "MOT" regardless. As for the "test" suffix, yes it is properly required by English but nonetheless generally omitted. Here's a link to the actual Government MOT page: https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/the-mot-test The only place they call it an "MOT test" is in the URI, showing that calling it "an MOT" is perfectly good and proper. – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 06 '16 at 11:35
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Whilst leaving a car in Park (auto) or in gear (manual) will prevent the car from rolling away, in the event that the primary braking system fails, you will have no means of stopping the car. This is of course the other purpose of the handbrake.

Steve Matthews
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  • I appreciate that @dan1111 but in the scenario where the fluid has leaked to below its minimum level or the pedal box or linkage to master cylinder has failed, pulling the handbrake would normally act upon to rear brakes. With the handbrake already failed, there would be no way to get any braking force at all. – Steve Matthews Aug 04 '16 at 10:46
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A factor no one mentioned might be safety with children. We have a 2005 Rexton which our 2 year old managed to put into reverse with the car off! The car rolled backwards and thank gd was stopped by a boulder before falling off a 2 meter drop.

Although I'm not sure an automatic should be able to be put into gear without at least the key in the ignition, an engaged parking brake would have prevented this situation.

(We now park the car only on flat ground, engage the parking brake, and lock the car.)

ykay says Reinstate Monica
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    Most cars shouldn't allow the transmission to shift from park unless the brake pedal is depressed. – Dean MacGregor Aug 04 '16 at 14:12
  • I agree I have no idea if this is a problem with this model or this specific car – ykay says Reinstate Monica Aug 04 '16 at 14:16
  • @DeanMacGregor: Only for automatic transmission cars. Standards have no such limitation. (I did the same to my uncle's truck when I was six: rolling down the street, my dad had to run after it and hit the brakes (the foot parking brake was broken). I had no idea what that lever was for and because the vehicle was off it never occurred to my six-year old brain that this is something I probably shouldn't do.) –  Aug 05 '16 at 04:19
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Funny, the handbrake was designed as the assistance brake to deal with confusing lack of 3rd leg when starting on a slope.

Using it for parking is not recommended, I've read a lot of warnings, during winter it can easily be broken that way. Everyone recommends parking on a gear.

Go find some steeper slope and test when there's null traffic, if you can stop&start there without problems. Some people have no issues, some will find it hardly possible to start even on a moderate slope without a handbrake.

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    Do you have any sources that way it should not be used for parking? You recommend in gear, but I (and everyone I know that drives a stick) has always done in gear AND parking brake. – rpmerf Aug 04 '16 at 19:48
  • I disagree. It's called a "parking brake" for a reason. In many vehicles it's actually a ratcheting pedal up on the wheel well. To release it you have to pull a lever underneath th steering wheel (many Chevys have this, for example). –  Aug 05 '16 at 04:23
  • This is not true, and the point of starting on a hill is irrelevant to the OP, who has an automatic. – dan1111 Aug 05 '16 at 07:22
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I'm going to pretend for this answer that putting it in part does not imply an automatic transmission [because automatic transmission is well covered].

With a manual transmission this is safe for reasonably level ground. Engine compression alone will hold indefinitely for a considerable amount of force. A hill of more than about two degrees is too much however. If you worry about it, block a wheel.

Joshua
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    Standard transmission cars don't have a Park "gear", but I'm sure you mean to just leave it in gear. Instead of blocking a wheel, turn the wheels into the curb so that if it rolls, it won't turn into traffic. –  Aug 05 '16 at 04:26
  • What @FighterJet wrote also has the benefit that if it starts rolling (regardless of reason), even if the car does roll forward or backward a little, at least one wheel will very soon hit the curb hopefully causing the car to stop rolling. – user Aug 05 '16 at 12:18
  • @FighterJet: I wrote block a wheel on purpose because turn wheels into curb isn't always available. – Joshua Aug 05 '16 at 15:07
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In the event of a brake master cylinder failure, the parking brake (or EMERGENCY brake) will still cause the brakes to grip, while the brake pedal might go right to the floor. This means that if you don't have a working e-brake, you risk potentially losing braking ability if something goes wrong. Most modern cars have two brake cylinders so that if one fails, the other will allow you to stop (one for each side of the car usually). However, older cars typically have only one brake cylinder, and if this goes or if you have an issue with your brake lines, the e-brake is there to save your ass!

fpscolin
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