When parking do you leave it in gear or in neutral?

dulpit

Hey, the other day my wife was at work, and when they came out at end of the day the car of one of the lads she works with had rolled about half way out of its spot because he forgot to put on the handbrake. She asked him why it wasn't in gear and he said he never did when parking. She said more than half the people she worked with said same. I checked with my buddies and about half of them also said they leave car in neutral when parking.

Seems mad to me, I was always told to leave it parked in gear, especially when parking on a hill. What's the logic of leaving it in neutral?

Miscreant

I always leave mine in neutral. The handbrake should be strong enough to hold the car stationary in anything but the most extreme hills. Even then I would just turn the wheels towards the footpath kerb to make sure the car doesn't roll downhill. Not once have I had to leave it in gear in 20 years of driving but I am aware of the practice.

Handbrake performance is checked as part of the NCT so if your wife's colleague's car rolled out of a relatively flat parking space while the handbrake was on then that is more of a vehicle maintenance issue, in my opinion.

Squatman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159697#Comment_118159697

bad practice. what if the handbrake cable snap? just leave it in gear,

colm_mcm

I always leave it in gear, there’s no good reason not to.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159697#Comment_118159697

A former work colleagues golf rolled into a shop front when she thought she put the electronic parking brake on and hadnt

highdef

I leave mine in first on an incline or on flat ground, otherwise I leave it in reverse. Have never had a handbrake failure but it's more likely you would have human failure and forget to apply the handbrake. If you're in the habit of ensuring car is in gear and that handbrake is applied, if you forget to do one of them, you should still be fine. You're basically adding and extra layer of resilience to the safety of your parked car.

It's a no brainer!

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159737#Comment_118159737

I had a new Skoda Kodiaq roll out of a driveway in front of me and wallop into a wall on the other side of the road. Had turned auto hold off, which also disables auto handbrake when turning car off.

Danzy

Mind truly blown that people leave the car in neutral when parked.

magicbastarder

why wouldn't you leave it in gear?

told this story a couple of months ago here; i used to work with a chap whose car was stolen from the forecourt of a filling station. about an hour after the gardai had been and gone, it was found a few hundred metres away; he'd forgotten to engage the handbrake, and it had rolled out of the forecourt, across a road, and into an industrial estate opposite - somehow managing not to hit anyone or anything - and bumped up against a kerb and just looked like it'd been badly parked.

.red.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159740#Comment_118159740

Is there a reason for the different gears?

I always leave it in 1st gear. Its what I was told to do when learning and I don't even think about doing it now. Can't see any reason not to.

magicbastarder

i also knew a chap who did a couple of hundred quids worth of damage to his car at a big family get together at his in-laws - someone was leaving and he was sent out to move his father-in-laws big barge of a car to let them out; so he got in, and turned the engine over without checking if it was in neutral, and it hopped forward into his own car. he blamed his father in law for leaving the car parked in gear...

Wanderer78

always leave it in gear, handbrakes knackered

drogon.

I believe this is just down to the way how people are taught to drive these days. I remember when I was learning to drive about 8 years ago, I was told to always start the car in neutral. So I think there was tendency to just leave it in neutral, rather than shifting from gear to neutral before starting the car.

magicbastarder

when I was learning to drive about 8 years ago, I was told to always start the car in neutral.

i'd consider it very odd to start the car in gear.

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159839#Comment_118159839

Most cars now require the clutch to be depressed to start the engine. This wasn't the case in the past. Are you more likely to start the car in gear now, given that clutch is now involved in starting engine?

long_b

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159802#Comment_118159802

This is why I park it in neutral.

Andrea B.

Gear, gear, gear. Belt and braces and once bitten twice shy.

Mine once reversed, turned, gathered momentum, climbed a curb and down a grass hill before smashing in to tree.

One of the onlookers was a younglad who had planted the chestnut.

If not for that, the trajectory led to 2 parked Audis ten metres further.

Piddlin rain. If it had not been, same green area full of kids. Took me some time to get over the "what if".

In San Francisco you can get a ticket if front wheels not directed in to kerb when street parking.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159697#Comment_118159697

Why would you go to the trouble of always turning the steering wheel towards the kerb when leaving it in gear is actually way less effort?

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159791#Comment_118159791

I used to work at a petrol station even I was a teenager, saw a car roll out of the forecourt and thread the needle across 2 lanes of traffic and into a ditch. Very narrowly missed cars driving in both directions

faceman

I put my car in "p" which I think means Perfect. It also has N for Nope, D for Don't and M for Meh

mickdw

Anyone parking in neutral is just plain wrong.

Handbrake whether electronic or manual can fail so why would you take the risk.

People who start in neutral then without clutch is a 100 percent giveaway of a bad driver

Even if your car doesn't require clutching to start it is still the right thing to do.

Akrasia

I drive a saab, you cannot physically take the keys out of the ignition unless the car is in reverse gear

Andrea B.

Regarding reliance on NCT. NCT checks handbrakes at a minimum frequency of 365 days. There are 364 days for it to be not performing optimally within those 365 days.

Everything that does not perform "was working fine yesterday!".

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159931#Comment_118159931

Yep.

Start a car.

Sit in it.

Put the key in the ignition.

Push the brake pedal and hold it pushed in

Put the car into neutral

Start the car

Check all your mirrors and blind spots, adjust mirrors and seat if needed

Release the handbrake keeping foot brake engaged

Put the car into gear

Then, and only then can you start driving

This is how to start a manual transmission

johndaman66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159909#Comment_118159909

I think we'd likely be hearing of more people kerbing wheels and damaging bodywork rather than rolling cars if it was considered best practice to turning the wheels in towards the kerb (not condoning turning the wheels in towards the kerb or not leaving the car in gear when parked as good practice).

I always leave the car in gear when parked and clutch in and in neutral when starting it (even in older cars I had that didn't require such). That has being like second nature to me since I started driving.

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118160002#Comment_118160002

How so?

I mean, if it becomes habit, then habit would lead to straightening wheels to pull off.

I am probably a bit hypersensitive on the topic anyhow☹️

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159697#Comment_118159697

Mostly wrong.

Handbrake/parking-brake performance testing in the NCT is there for two main reasons: To ensure that there is an acceptable level of stopping power in the event of a complete hydraulic/main brake system failure, to ensure that the handbrake is balanced across both wheels and has the power to reasonably hold the vehicle when in a stopped position.

The main cause of "handbrake failure" isn't actually a break in the cable - it's actually a loss of friction from when the disk/drum and pads cool down and contract (shrink) as they cool down. If you just sufficiently apply the handbrake on a vehicle on a hill after a drive where the brakes were used, you'll find that the handbrake slips after a few minutes, gradually at first but then more quickly. That's down to the loss of heat from the disks and pads causing the loss of friction.

Disk brakes are worse affected than drum brakes due to the design of the system, so much so that some vehicles which have disks on the rear also have a drum-based handbrake within the wheel to workaround the problem.

So the rule is to engage a low gear (1st, R, or P) when parking. Page 136:

https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/services/s1.8-learner-driver-resources/rules-of-the-road-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=6d948b39_2

L1011

Gear, had a roller when someone else was driving it before me and didn't, handbrake slipped (ratchet isn't in the best nick). Driveway is slightly sloped but luckily the road is not even vaguely busy

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159732#Comment_118159732

except for the odd occasion where you forget to fully clutch when turning the ignition key

although our Ford won't allow starting the car without fully clutched... the newer peugeot on the other hand has no such feature

johndaman66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118160038#Comment_118160038

You would probably think or assume and I wouldn't doubt that you would be fine yourself but the amount of them out there that would be incapable of grasping that concept might be an eye opener, then high kerbs and all that etc.

I'm no expert, but why the need to "do the right thing" by clutching while starting, when the car's in neutral? What difference could it possibly make - is it to do with safety; so the car doesn't roll back or forwards when it's taken out of gear, before turning on the ignition, or is it something else!? And if the handbrake's on before starting, then the car can't roll..

If it was me and I had a car, I'd put it in gear when parked.... take it out of gear before starting, get the car started, and then press the clutch - doubt I'm the only one...

db

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159954#Comment_118159954

No it's not.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159851#Comment_118159851

Course not. First thing I do before starting the car is to knock it into neutral. Don't have to think about it, it's automatic (knocking it into neutral is, I don't mean the gearbox is!)

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118160647#Comment_118160647

When did you learn how to drive?

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159931#Comment_118159931

Wrong according to whose rules ? Yours ?

11 years driving I always park in neutral...

the right thing to do is operate your vehicle in accordance to the road traffic act... I don’t believe those laws determine you must park in gear...

bad drivers are drivers who show disregard for the safety and welfare of fellow road users...plenty of that about... parking in neutral isn’t illegal or wrong.

solerina

I always leave it in gear and lock the wheel !! Habit since the first day I started driving

Ash.J.Williams

Always in gear, and I leave everyone else’s in gear too with often hilarious results

dulpit

To those who leave it in neutral, what's the benefit? You need to pop it back into gear to drive, so it's an added step there. And if you forget to engage handbrake or if fails, your car will roll.

If you put it in gear, you're already in first when starting car, and if handbrake goes you'll not roll.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118160060#Comment_118160060

My car won’t start unless you press the clutch. Same with most cars now.

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118159936#Comment_118159936

I forgot about that, miss the old Saab. "Black Panel" :)

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118161219#Comment_118161219

Mid nineties.

KevRossi

I leave it in neutral. Years ago I had a Landie in Spain, it got pushed across a carpark about 20m by a reversing artic and it damaged the gearbox, it was left in 1st. If I'm on a steep hill then it's reverse gear and turn wheels to kerb/ditch. But apart from that always neutral if it's a manual. I've been driving an auto as a daily for years, but usually one of the 2nd or 3rd cars is a manual.

Also, having spent a while living in France in the 90's, you usually left the handbrake off and the car in neutral as it was common for someone to push your car forward or back if they were trying to park their car in a tight spot.

I always leave it in gear.

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118161663#Comment_118161663

Did you learn in a car that didn't need the clutch put in to start it?

I'm hypothesisng that 'older' drivers are more likely to check for neutral while the whippersnappers aren't as they start the car with clutch in. Just a thought...don't hang me for it!

I put my car into P... I'M NOT AN ANIMAL!

Multipass

.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118161812#Comment_118161812

yes, i didn't own a car that needed the clutch depressed to start it, until five or six years ago.

given that the idea of the clutch being depressed is there to (partly? fully?) prevent someone from starting a car while accidentally in gear, it still makes sense to knock it into neutral first regardless. for many people, they'll be starting the car in a different gear to the gear they were in when they last stopped the engine anyway, e.g. i reverse into the driveway and drive out forwards.

Wibbs

Had to think about this. Neutral, switch off, pull handbrake(old skool), put it in gear. Starting it again, clutch in, put it in neutral, start car, put it in gear, release handbrake, drive. Mow down cyclists and leccy scooterists when I come across them and it's safe to do so.

Gregor Samsa

My driveway is on a fairly gentle slope. Leaving the car in gear won’t stop it rolling. I’ve tried it with every car I’ve owned over the past 15 years. I don’t know, maybe it rolls slower, or it will eventually stop, but it certainly won’t stop it rolling out into the road.

magicbastarder

they see you rollin', they hatin'.

RandomViewer

Learned to drive in an 1979 Opel, handbrake was for decoration only, always leave in gear