Safe Speed Forums

I saw "Watchdog" this week, and there was a segment about a certain Vauxhall which had rolled into a river because the handbrake had slipped off. Vauxhall reported that this had occurred as a result of the driver pressing the handbrake release button when applying the handbrake.

Apparently, "most" people do this, and there were indications that NOT pressing the button in to apply the handbrake was frowned upon in advanced drivers' circles. Like so many of these "fads", no reason was given as to why it should be so. "It just is", as they say.

Well I never press the button in when applying the handbrake. What for? The whole purpose of the ratchet it releases is to prevent the lever going back down again after you've finished pulling it up. Pressing the button in defeats this. A young lad who'd just passed his test once took me to task over it, and said he'd been taught to press the button in to apply the handbrake. I asked what this achieved, and the answer given was that it "prevented ratchet wear". Well, I've owned 18 cars and I've been driving 36+ years, and I've never had a handbrake ratchet wear out on me. Admittedly, some cars at the cheap end of the market (like the air cooled Beetle I once had) have very noisy handbrake levers.

I prefer to pull on the handbrake and count the clicks. On my current car (Audi A4 Avant 3.0 TDi 6spd) 3 barely audible clicks will hold the car on a modest slope. I normally park in 1st gear on anything steeper than that. By applying the handbrake this way, I know I'm not pulling it on too hard. I don't know how the button pressers avoid pulling on the brake too hard.

I'm dying to hear from the button pressers why their method is "correct". But I'm not going to change the habits of a lifetime, no matter how good the answers are.

I generally don't push the button; like to hear the ratchet so I know its working, but as with all things, actually testing it can cause it to fail, very rare though I imagine.

I did have to push the button in an old golf I had or it would shoot across the floor, although that I rememeber it doing this shows I didn't always push it

I'm quite a strapping lad and when I was learning to drive I pulled my instructor's handbrake clean out of the centre console and snapped the cable.

Yes I'd heard that one too - and the one about never going from 3rd to 5th or 4th to 2nd because it damages the gearbox! It's odd how these myths find their way into the world of motoring trivia! When confronted with the handbrake question, I normally suggest a trip to a scrapyard to try out as many handbrakes as possible. I don't think I've ever found a scrap car at the end of its life whose handbrake ratchet is "worn out"!

Same problem a few years ago with the Citroen Xantia.

Citroen insisted it was user error, people not applying the handbrake properly.

After much harassment from watchdog Citroen issued a recall to modify the handbrake mechanism.

The modification? Filing off the first 3 notches of the ratchet so people had to pull it on properly.

As for the push/don't push debate, I'm definately a non pusher. If you press the button while applying the handbrake there is a chance you won't get it applied as hard. But I also leave the car in gear just in case.

I suspect the root cause of the problem will be, as it was with the Citroen, handbrake operating on disk brakes. The design of drum brakes means that if the wheel turns with a partially applied brake, the rotation of the rum drags the brake shoes outward, increasing brake pressure. You don't get that effect with disks, plus they tend to contract when they cool which has the effect of moving pad away from disk.

I have to admit, I've started doing this recently for no apparent reason... I just did it one day...

That said, I ALWAYS give it a little tug without the button pressed, just to make sure. Likewise, if I'm on a substantial slope I almost always park in gear.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

On the TR4 you HAVE to push the button to apply the hand brake.
To drop the handbrake you must lift the lever and NOT push the button and drop it.

(it is realy hard to get used to)

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Thats only an average of 2 years per car, barely enough time to run them in!

I've just had to replace a handbrake mechinisim because of ratchet wear!(the lever/handle was also starting to develop a fategue crack)

So it does happen.

However I have owned this vehicle for 24 years and covererd 250,000 "urban" miles in it so the handbrake has had a lot of use!

(The gear lever snapped in half at about 150,000 miles. Initially I felt this to be a rather odd failure untill I figured out that I must have waggled it *well* over a million times! Makes you think doesnt it!)

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

I tend to push the button in then release it at the top so I hear the ratchet click. Best of both worlds as you don't have the button released all the way up but you do hear the handbrake click into place.

Easy test is to bash the top of the handbrake lever with your palm. If it drops off then it isn't applied properly! The vauxhalls were noticeable useless as one slap and they'd drop off. I have never known a car with such a dodgy handbrake mechanism. My lancia had a rubbish handbrake but the lever would always stay where you put it, it might roll and groan but the lever never moved

I always press the button. I thinkn i was taught to do it during my driving lessons. I think!!

It's certainly something i've done from the very begining.

Yes I think they took a step backwards in safety making the handbrake work the rear discs instead of a drum as mentioned, I have the best of both worlds in my Carlton, rear discs with a drum for the 'parking brake' a little bit fiddly to set up or adjust, and I use a combination od button pressed until near the top, quick slap on the top to confirm, plus park in the opposite gear to the slope when on one.

Jon

Can't remember if it was my instructor or parents who taught me to do it, but until very recently I was firmly in the "push button to apply" camp.

And then, a couple of weeks ago on the way home from work, I had a bit of a scare. Pulled up to the tail-end of a queue, handbrake on, autobox left in D, foot off brake... Minding my own business waiting for the lights to change when I hear a loud bang down to my left, and my car (02 plate VX Omega...) starts rolling towards the car in front of me. Jump on the footbrake just in time to avoid a coming together of bumpers, reach down to check the handbrake lever and find it's sat in the fully disengaged position Offer up a quick "thankyou" to my instructor for drumming into me the "tyres & tarmac" rule when pulling up behind another vehicle, and continue waiting for the green light with my foot on the brakes. Ironically, I only started getting back into the habit of using the handbrake rather than the footbrake, having drifted out of the habit since I started driving autos, after reading a few comments from others about how using the footbrake wasn't safe in the event of a rear-end shunt...

Since then I've modified my technique to push the button and pull the lever until I just start to feel the increased tension in the cable, then release the button and continue pulling until I get a nice positive-sounding click. I still can't quite shake the "clicks = bad" brainwashing from my mind, hence the continued use of the button in the initial phase of brake application.

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Chris

Yes.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

Button in until last couple of clicks.

Same here, I just dislike the sound for some reason though it does not bother me when using ratchet straps. ??

I often press the button just enough to stop the noise but so I can feel the number of teeth passed before releasing for the last one or two clicks.

I am not sure what is worst, doing this or discussing it.

I also always leave the car in gear.

Button in. No idea why but I do hate the sound of a ratchet. If on any form of slope I leave the car in 1st or Park.

I just like pressing buttons I suppose

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Prepare to be Judged

Wow, I was going to write almost exactly the same words as you did.

Although on my current car I don't like the sound of the ratchet because I swear it's plastic.

Also it depends where I park. If it's on a hill I'll pull the handbrake quite hard, turn the wheels and leave it in gear.
At home & work the ground is flat so I could leave it out of gear with the hand brake off and it wouldn't go anywhere, so I put the hand brake on but don't make a great effort to do it well or anything.

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Andrew.

Button in.

I have auto transmission on my cars so I always put them in P also.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Yeah so do I. Force of habit I suppose, my driving instructor used to rap my knuckles if I dragged the handbrake along the ratchet
In fact, I wonder if its simpy the awful, grating sound of the ratchet that makes some believe applying the handbrake whilst pressing the button is to perform the action with a degree of finesse rather than crudely yanking it on.

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

I think that's it actually.
A click or two at the end to show that it's on, but otherwise do it quietly.

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Andrew.