Parking a car (gears)

Brow

Just reading the rules of the road in the build up for the test. It says (pg 112) to leave the car in first gear or reverse. Never heard of this until now. Is there the potential to be marked against this if I dont do this on the day?

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

dudara

I do park my car in gear (my sequence is park, handbrake, engine off and then back into gear). It's a habit I picked up from my parents. I think that it's to do with parking a car on an incline, as it acts as a second brake (back in the days when car brakes/handbrakes weren't as good as now). But it's just a habit I have.

As long as you are parked correctly with handbrake on, engine and lights off, I don't think that you need to do anything else.

brian076

Brow wrote: »

Just reading the rules of the road in the build up for the test. It says (pg 112) to leave the car in first gear or reverse. Never heard of this until now. Is there the potential to be marked against this if I dont do this on the day?

No you definitely won't be marked for not parking your car in gear.

dudara

For people's reference - taken from Rules of the Road

Parking
General rules

• Where possible, park in the direction of traffic flow.
• Park close to and parallel with the kerb or edge of the road except at any location where perpendicular or angled parking bays are marked out on the surface of the road.
• Where a parking bay is marked out on a road you must park your vehicle fully within the parking space.
• Apply the handbrake.
• Switch off the engine.
• Leave the vehicle in first gear or reverse, or in the case of an automatic, select P.
• Before opening any doors, check for other road users nearby, in particular motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.
• Open your doors only when you need to and keep them open only for as long as necessary.
• Get out of your vehicle only when it is safe and you and your passengers are not blocking other road users.
• Passengers should exit on the kerbside.
• Lock your vehicle as you leave it.

cruizer101

The reason behind parking in gear is that it will take strain off the handbrake and hold the car better.

It doesn't matter too much if just parked on flat ground as there shouldn't be much strain placed on it, if on a hill put in gear opposite to the down hill direction, i.e. if parked facing down a hill put it into reverse gear.

Just try and remember its in gear when starting the car up again.

Overature

i doesnt make much difference, you only leave it in gear as a kind of back up if the hand breaks fail.

if your car is facing downhill leave it in reverse, if its facing up hill leave it in any forward gear.

Donagh_mc

cruizer101 wrote: »

The reason behind parking in gear is that it will take strain off the handbrake and hold the car better.

I always wondered what the reason for that recommendation was!

kirving

Is there mechanism in an engine/gearbox to only allow it turn one way? I ask this because if there isn't, it shouldn't make a difference if you put the car in reverse/first depending on the slope, the resistance from the engine would be the same whether it rotates backwards/forwards(obviously forgetting gear ratio's).

On another point, on a Ford Focus mk1, there is a clutch sensor, so the car will know when the clutch is in. This is persumably to stop the car from being started without having the clutch in. But you can still make the car jump if you turn it on without the clutch.

Richie15

Overature wrote: »

i doesnt make much difference, you only leave it in gear as a kind of back up if the hand breaks fail.

if your car is facing downhill leave it in reverse, if its facing up hill leave it in any forward gear.

Other way 'round. Put it in the gear you'd use to go down the hill.

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Is there mechanism in an engine/gearbox to only allow it turn one way? I ask this because if there isn't, it shouldn't make a difference if you put the car in reverse/first depending on the slope, the resistance from the engine would be the same whether it rotates backwards/forwards(obviously forgetting gear ratio's).

It's not specifically designed for it, but the fact that first/reverse gear is so efficiently designed for transfefrring as much power as possible from the engine to the wheels, it's next to impossible for power to go backwards.