2010 Honda Accord Crosstour: Yes, I Dig the Handbrake

Driving off of the ferry on the way to Detroit reminded me that I despise the foot pedal for the parking brake. It took an agonizing amount of time to bend over, locate the depressed pedal, and then release to drive off the boat. It wasn't my car, and it seemed to be a little further in-board of the foot rest than I am used to. I get frustrated by the drivers who take extra time getting off of the ship...

ok can someone explain this to me.... i constantly yell at my friend who drives an automatic every time he puts it in park he pulls his hand break... I dont understand why people do this when they have an automatic.... i have 2 friends that do it out of some routine ritual thingy.... now i use mine but thats only because i drive a manual ... i asked my dad one time bout it and he said that back in the day the older cars people who lived in hilly areas still used the hand break even in auto matics.... so ok i could understand back like in 70 80 early 90s but its the 21st century now.... why for the love of god do people still think its needed... im sure its no longer needed on automatics lol but i could be wrong... anyone know why people use it in automatics still?

I don't know why you need to yell at someone for doing it. At worst, it causes no harm, at best it saves a small amount of stress on the transmission. I use the parking brake in an automatic to avoid putting any load on the transmission's park pawl. On a completely level surface it is a non issue, but on even a slight incline this serves a purpose. Engage the brake before you shift to park, and the parking brake is holding that load, not the transmission. Ever feel that jolt/clunk of a loaded drivetrain when you shift out of park on a hill? The "engage the parking brake before shifting to park" method avoids this.

csjg35: The proper term is "brake". "break" is the same as broken.

csjg35 & ed124c: Cars with automatics need parking brakes because the parking pawl in an automatic transmission is not designed to hold the car on a hill or slope. The Park position is merely for locking the drive wheels. If you just use Park on a slope, when you come back to drive off and you try to take the car out of Park you will find it difficult to shift out of Park because there is too much load on that parking pawl. Over time this damages the parking pawl and it will eventually fail. Also, when parking on a steep enough hill, you run the risk of the parking pawl breaking completely and the car will roll away. Additionally, in FWD cars, applying the parking brake helps to secure more wheels than just the front.

When I tow a boat with my automatic car, I must use the parking brake or else I run the risk of the car being pulled into the lake.

Like ttopjohn, I always set the parking brake when I park, regardless of whether I'm driving an automatic or manual. Why do I do it when I'm in an automatic? Well, why not? it takes virtually no effort, it's a good idea when parking on a hill, and it's needed in a manual. I can't see why that would bother anyone.

@ttopjohn and @takemorepills,

+1

I guess I commenting to those who don't think an automatic transmission equipped vehicle needs a parking brake. If you actually saw what holds the car in place when it's in park, you'd be a little unsettled. It's just a dog tooth on the outside of the final planetary gear set, that's it. I drive an automatic and when I park on hills, I always set the parking brake with my foot still on the brake pedal, shift into neutral and take my foot off the brake so the parking brake takes the load and then shift into park. When I go to drive away, I shift the car into drive or reverse, release the brake and off I go. There is no loud "clunk" from the parking mechanism because it wasn't under load...arguably better for the transmission.

@ed124c,

My friend I dont mean to insult you but you obviously have little to no knowledge of what you say sometimes.

"No car with an automatic needs a handbrake. Back long, long ago when I drove automatics I hardly ever used the parking brake."

Parking brakes are there for a reason...to brake your vehicle when it is parked. To relief stress off the transmission as it does off the clutch on a manual transmission.

How long have you been driving?? Ever park on an incline (even a slight one) and put your vehicle on park without the parking brake?? That big nasty "clunk" you get when shifting out of park is not "normal". The parking brake minimizes if not deletes this stress on the transmission.

What an eyesore. Give me a button anyday. At least a foot brake, out of sight.

Honda is so tech backwards. From their cheap digital readouts to their anemic hybrid systems to their hand brakes with automatics. O, I forgot. They're too busy with Asimo.

In countries where getting a license for driving is actually difficult, you're indoctrinated to pull the parking brake habitually. Regardless of whether it is "needed."

The minimal effort to develop this muscle memory habit saves idiot drivers from letting their cars slide down a hill. They also do the same for signaling - you signal even if there's no other cars on the road, because it is muscle memory and you don't have to think about it.

Wow, I can't believe some people don't know what a parking brake is for. As others have said the parking pawl is not made to hold the vehicle.

And one other thing, cjsg35. Should something happen to the parking mechanism (and things other than the pawl, such as the linkage and interlock, do fail) and the car rolls away, rest assured you'll be cited for not setting the brake if the police get involved.

Whenever I drive an automatic car, I have steps ingrained into my mind that I always follow
1. Put the car in neutral
2. Pull up the handbrake
3. Put the car in park

This method (I believe) takes the stress off of the tranny itself, especially on hills. You don't get that "thwack" when put it into drive, which at least makes me feel a little better.

My mother would always set the parking brake, even with auto transmissions. Over the years, she has stretched more than one brake cable causing the pads to rest on the rotors. She's toasted at least one set of rotors this way.

After years of urging, she no longer engages the parking brake on level ground.

Even for those of you who believe the parking brake is completely unnecessarily w/ an auto trans, use it once and a while to keep the mechanism working. I had a friend who had his parking brake seize from non-use.

I definitely agree 100% with the others that are suggesting neutral>parking brake>Park. Really the best way to go.

@leftnose: Just don't pull it as tightly. Sometimes when I pick up my car from a mechanic or valet the parking brake is yanked up so hard. I engage mine just enough to keep the car from moving, not enough to get a tricep workout.

I’m not surprised people don’t know what the parking/emergency/hand brake is for, with all the names it has.

But I’m a big fan of its use. My parents learned to drive in other countries so they made sure I learned to use it, and I trained my fiancée to use it as well (and she’s only driven automatics). As others have said, the Park mechanism on automatic transmissions isn’t very substantial. It allows too much movement to instill confidence anyway.

I’ve mostly driven manual transmissions so I’m used to handbrakes, but it is annoying how often a bag’s strap will get caught on the lever.

Wow! If you look at my original comment I said that no automatic car needs a HANDbrake-- I did not say it doesn't need a parking brake.

I did go on to say that I rarely used the PARKING brake on my automatics-- I didn't say I did not use it at all,or that others shouldn't use it.

I have been driving for 50 years and have never had a problem with the park position "pawl". Obviously, on steep hills one uses the parking brake and turns the front wheel into the curb, and if it is really steep, then you use a block behind the tire.

@davicho: I would like to hear more about the things I say that are not knowledgeable. You could be right-- I don't know everything, and sometimes I do make mistakes on this blog.
Also, I am not offended by your comment. Just a little annoyed, maybe.

By the way, a lot of the things I say on this website are meant to be humorous. Sometimes they don't quite succeed.

lol maybe im the odd one out ... oh well i just never seen a use for it on an automatic.... oh well lol i guess u learn something new every day

I can't think of anything more important than a handbrake to go in that spot. A foot brake is an awkward relic from the days of bench seats.

Anyone who doesn't know what a handbrake is for or when or how to use it really needs to retake drivers ed 101.

"Whenever I drive an automatic car, I have steps ingrained into my mind that I always follow
1. Put the car in neutral
2. Pull up the handbrake
3. Put the car in park"

Every driver should do this 100% of the time, no exceptions.

so funny and yet true story my next door neighbor is a cop and i asked him if he ever uses his parking brake in either of his cars that he has.... he looked at me and said why would i there for cars with manual transmitions i dont even know why they still have them in new cars now adays.... i couldn't stop lauphing lol when he asked why i said step inside and showed him this post and he was like huh lol who woulda thought

I'll take a hand parking brake over a foot operated one if I have a choice.

Also why do people hate push button parking brakes? Class 6 and above trucks if I remember right usually have push/pull button operated parking brakes and have had them for decades so why all the fuss?

Feel free to delete this editors, but all I can do is laugh at you "yanking it" and then see this phallic hand brake.

Killing me.

"Also why do people hate push button parking brakes?"

Leave your dome light on overnight. When you go and crank your car, it won't start. Then, show us a video of you releasing the electrical parking brake.

Big trucks have spring operated parking brakes (spring brakes) that are released by air pressure used for normal braking. When you pull on the big yellow knob, you release that air pressure. That's why you hear that loud air dump when those drivers park their trucks.

Also, when you lose that air pressure due to a leak in the system, the spring ensures that your truck eventually comes to a stop. The downside is that you have to get under the thing and back off the slack adjusters before you can tow the thing to a garage. With something that heavy, being able to stop takes precedence over the minor inconvenience of releasing stuck brake.

Now, imagine yourself in a business suit getting under your Audi releasing your electric brake. Give me a hand operated parking brake lever pulling a cable. Also, with a distinctive brake level in the center of the vehicle, both the driver and passenger may stop a vehicle if necessary.

If your car won't start, why would you worry about releasing the parking brake?

As soon as you boost it it will work again.

True, a long enough jumper cable is good to have.

This is a way old story involving a way old car, but growing up our driveway was really steep. My dad NEVER set the parking brake, and the sound it would make EVERY time he took it out of drive was awful, but the car, an '88 Olds Trofeo, had 170k on it when he sold it, and we still saw it driving around for years after...he never had one problem with the tranny. Now granted it was a GM auto, which over my experience have seemed pretty indestructible.

I'm not saying I would or do do that, but he did and no problems. That car still shifted smooth as silk even after all those miles and years, and stress on the tranny. I remember clearly.

"Wow! If you look at my original comment I said that no automatic car needs a HANDbrake-- I did not say it doesn't need a parking brake."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_brake

I said don't put jam on my toast, but I didn't say don't put marmalade on it.

I am not disagreeing with you, I am just deprecating everything you said.

is this some kind of word game in the 60s?

Hand brake makes more sense here, as the interior's shared with the Accord, which is available with a stick. Had they opted for a foot brake, they would have had to pay additional development costs to design a different center console and e-brake mechanism for automatic cars vs. manual ones. I remain baffled as to why Toyota, Nissan, and especially Hyundai/Kia are doing this on their midsizers (and seemingly everything offered with a manual from Hyundai/Kia). Honda's got this one right. Beyond the above reasons, it's important to be able to MODULATE an e-brake in the event of normal brake failure; modulating a foot pedal parking brake that sticks however far you push it, let alone a push button one, is dangerous to impossible.......and sure as hell can't be done by a passenger if the driver loses consciousness.

I noticed that when people parked in LA / San Fran that most people did not use their hand brake and just put their cars into park (my relatives included).

Here in NZ everyone puts there hand brake on whether their car is an auto or manual, so always assumed you were meant to do this.

I learned to drive in Switzerland. There were these rules (amongst a lot of other ones) for driving with a learners permit:

You always had to have a passenger who had the the drivers license at least 5 years sitting next to you, while driving with the learners permit.

You could not drive a car that did not have the parking/emergency brake in between the seats

For obvious reasons....at least like that the passenger could try to stop the car when you screwed up

Another good reason for having the e-brake between the seats: Try towing a car with a tow rope and a foot operated e-brake....no way....you have to be able to modulate the braking force

To those who say "automatics don't need a handbrake", don't really have an understanding of how cars work...

my first car had seized parking cables because the previous owner never used it and they rusted. But even before i did my research on why that happened, i know that that huge clunk shifting out of gear isn't normal.

To the writer of this article, the owners manual to my 01 Civic LX AUTO states to first shift into neutral, apply the handbrake then shift into park in order to properly engage the handbrake..

For my two cents, I'll take the console mounted parking brake handle every time. I have had foot actuated pedals break and lock up on two different vehicles. After the first time, I learned from a mechanic that I could release them by pushing on the catch with a screwdriver. I also had a Frontier pickup with a dash mounted parking brake. That thing was designed to bruise your knee whenever possible.

I too would also choose a center console mounted parking brake every time if I could. Above posters have made it clear why this choice is the best.

"My dad NEVER set the parking brake, and the sound it would make EVERY time he took it out of drive was awful, but the car, an '88 Olds Trofeo, had 170k on it when he sold it, and we still saw it driving around for years after...he never had one problem with the tranny. Now granted it was a GM auto, which over my experience have seemed pretty indestructible."

Exactly. 93 Caprice, 260k on it. I've parked in on plenty of hills, including the years where I had no parking brake and despite the clunk, my park pawl hasn't failed. Oh, and cars with the mini-shoes inside the rear rotor hat...you aren't going to get too much stopping performance from that system before it overheats. The systems with rear drums or a cable-actuated rear caliper (i.e. the service brakes) would be more suitable to being an "emergency brake."

I've actually had brake line failures in 3 cars within months of each other (and another 2 years prior) and in EVERY case I was able to not only stop the car (albeit with a LONG pedal travel), but drive additional distance to get home. Thank dual circuit master cylinders with shuttle switch proportioning valves. So I'd have a hard time saying that I NEEDED an "emergency brake." The manufacturers that have the on/off parking brake seem to think so.