OV9

My eldest is learning to drive, Im giver her extra lessons on top of the weekly 2 hours with an instructor. I had a chat with him this morning, as my advise conflicts with what she is learning from him.

He said that the handbrake is called a parking brake for a reason, it should never be used unless parking.

I have 2 cars with manual box and actual old school handbrake lever, when driving both cars I will use the handbrake for hill starts and if im at a junction or traffic lights that I think will be more than a few seconds of waiting, I put on the handbrake and drop into neutral.

Am I doing it wrong is this guy full of it?

I guess it depends on what sort of ‘hand brake’ his car has. If it’s the switch type then I agree with him, if it’s the conventional ratchet type lever then I agree with you!

Fairly sure you are meant to have it on at a red light? If someone goes into you and you go into someone in front of you, if you have hand brake on their insurance pays, if not, yours does. Or is that just one of those things I "know"?

that's up there with non-N rated tyres on Porsches for internet bullshit lol

Gavin wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:30 am Fairly sure you are meant to have it on at a red light? If someone goes into you and you go into someone in front of you, if you have hand brake on their insurance pays, if not, yours does. Or is that just one of those things I "know"?

Nope.

That's what I was taught - handbrake on for hill starts and if you're stopped for any length of time at a junction etc.

Was "parking brake" not an American term which presumably has been adopted over here over the last however many years? Or has it always been known as that?

@MikeHunt - I'll be doing this from next week, have you been doing anything specific with your eldest or just getting the time-in for experience?

Gavin wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:30 am Fairly sure you are meant to have it on at a red light? If someone goes into you and you go into someone in front of you, if you have hand brake on their insurance pays, if not, yours does. Or is that just one of those things I "know"?

No, that's definitely horse shit

MikeHunt wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:07 am He said that the handbrake is called a parking brake for a reason, it should never be used unless parking.

Did you specifically ask him how to do a hill start without using the handbrake ? That would answer the question.

We're all total DRIVING GODS here so obviously do it by feathering the clutch and jumping quickly from brake to throttle but that sounds like a really dangerous thing to ask a learner to do.

I'm going guess the instructors car has hill start assist.

Ascender wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:41 am That's what I was taught - handbrake on for hill starts and if you're stopped for any length of time at a junction etc.

This is how my daughter has been taught by her instructor.

She was 17 in May and has a 2 hour lesson each week and I take her out pretty much every day for an hour. I mainly try to survive and put miles under her belt.

It can be challenging as she'll accept advice from the internet or her mate who can't drive but then answers me back. It's worked well though as she was competent in a month but getting tests here in South Wales is a nightmare.

ETA her test is end of August.

He does have an almost new puma presumably with hill assist, which surely is the car automatically applying the handbrake. I pointed out that her 22 year old pos just about has a clutch. I specifically talked about hill starts as we live in a very hilly area and any route involves at least 2 hill starts in the fist half a mile. He said that the handbrake is a last resort, but grabbing it during a test may be deemed as being out of control and its called a parking brake as its only for parking.

Aside from skill as a driver, handbrake and neutral is simply mechanic sympathy.

@Carlos a month is very good, you can keep trying as cancellations do come up or their is an app that does it for you for circa £10

Her instructor should know Rule 114
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway ... 103-to-158

Rule 114
You MUST NOT

use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders
use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226).
In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again.

...and no fucker does it. And every fucker has high power LED brake lights...

Beany wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 12:30 pm ...and no fucker does it. And every fucker has high power LED brake lights...

And auto-hold on most modern cars actually keeps the brake lights on...

I was disappointed to find this out when driving our Superb

Beany wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 12:30 pm ...and no fucker does it. And every fucker has high power LED brake lights...

...even when you're stuck in traffic behind a crash and no-one's moved for 5-10 mins Dumbcunt fucktards the lot of them.

The default instructors car here is a basic Fiesta or Corsa which probably reflects a youngster first car more accurately. Perhaps it's a regional thing

When I was learning to drive electronic handbrakes were just starting to creep in- and you weren’t allowed to take a driving test in a car equipped with one

As for the American term, they call it e-brake more than parking brake don’t they?

When I was having lessons my instructor said he preferred it if I used the handbrake on red lights but I told him I thought it’s a waste of time. So he said don’t use it then
If a cars going hit you so hard that it causes your foot to slip off the break pedal then you’ve got much bigger problems and surely you’d want your car to roll more to take the impact - basic survival.
Back then hill assist was already pretty standard so hill starts were a waste of time.

The Mito doesn't have hill assist !

Mine does.