WHEN PARKING UP AND LEAVING YOUR CAR OR MINI BUS SHOULD YOU LEAVE IT IN 1ST GEAR. ?

Father Jake

You friend is right if she is parking on a hill, that is exactly what you are supposed to do because handbrakes have been known to fail!

mat118

No, she is RIGHT!

if your handbrake snaps (and they do) the car will roll forward and hit something, but if it is in 1st gear, it will not roll (try it).

turning the wheels to face the curb will stop it rolling aswell.

CLIVE H

Your friend is correct. I took my driving test in1960 and you had to do what you have described as part of the test back then. Miss it and you failed.

ScreaminJock

Jake and Mat are correct, if you are facing downhill, you should park in reverse, and if facing uphill you should park in 1st.

Brett

I do that.

If your handbrake fails then the gears will stop the vehicle from moving.

One Happy Egg

She is very right. Turning the wheels into the curb means the curb is being used as a chock to stop the vehicle rolling. Second, I always put the car in gear, if the handbrake cable snaps under the pressure of the weight of the car, then the gearbox will not let the wheels move.

So, your friend is right.

The Tank

It won't do any harm to turn the wheels in and leave it in gear - but she MUST also apply the handbrake. That is the law and she can't argue with it.

E-rock

You're really this worked up about your friend's car parking methods?

Yes, when parking facing up hill, you should leave a manual transmission in 1st gear or reverse. Usually they're similarly low-ratio gears, so either one will accomplish what you want, which is maximum compression effort for movement. Also, when parking next to a curb, you are supposed to turn the front tires away from the curb, so that if it rolls back a little bit, the front tires will roll into the curb. If there is no curb, you should point the tires toward the road edge, so that if it rolls back, the car goes off the road rather than into the middle of it.

And, in conjunction with all of that, a handbrake is a good thing. But I wouldn't rely on it as the sole means of holding the vehicle while parked on a hill.

sparkey

you can but you dont have to as long as your hand brake is working ok

wendy s

I was always told to leave the car in gear, just in case the hand break gives way?

i say that man there

if you were parking on a hill yes as extra safety facing downhill you would turn the wheels towards the kirb backwards downhill you would face the wheels outwards so if the handbrake should slip for any reason the wheels would jam against the kirb and being in first gear its going to be hard to mover anyway

UCANTCME

Your friend is right on the mark and you should listen to her........

kayejay

To park you should only rely on the handbrake, because one day she'll forget and turn the car on and the car will jump forward and hit a wall or something lol.
I wouldn't mention it anymore and let her get on with it, it's only when she hits the wall I'd say "I told you so" ha! ha!

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