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

db · 13-11-2021 3:03pm

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

No it's not.

magicbastarder · 13-11-2021 3:11pm

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 · 13-11-2021 5:09pm

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

When did you learn how to drive?

Strumms · 13-11-2021 5:23pm

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 · 13-11-2021 5:30pm

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

Ash.J.Williams · 13-11-2021 5:34pm

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

dulpit · 13-11-2021 5:35pm

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 · 13-11-2021 6:01pm

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 · 13-11-2021 6:10pm

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

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

magicbastarder · 13-11-2021 6:19pm

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

Mid nineties.

KevRossi · 13-11-2021 6:29pm

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.

13-11-2021 6:32pm

I always leave it in gear.

KaneToad · 13-11-2021 6:46pm

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!

13-11-2021 6:52pm

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

Multipass · 13-11-2021 6:53pm

magicbastarder · 13-11-2021 7:04pm

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 · 13-11-2021 7:58pm

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 · 13-11-2021 10:44pm

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 · 13-11-2021 11:47pm

they see you rollin', they hatin'.

RandomViewer · 13-11-2021 11:51pm

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

Alex86Eire · 14-11-2021 12:25am

I only learned how to drive in the last 5 years and was taught to pull up handbrake, put it into neutral and turn off the car. I've just done it automatically ever since. Had no idea people left it in gear!

Rikand · 14-11-2021 12:41am

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

My handbrake is currently unable to hold my car on a very slight incline. I meant to get it sortedbefore the NCT but I didnt get a chance to. Despite this I passed the NCT last week.

I am booked in with my garage to get the handbrake looked at this week amongst other things, but using the NCT as your marker for the effectiveness of your handbrake is not a good idea

14-11-2021 12:50am

I generally don't get the car to a stop and dive out like it's on fire so quite often the engine is running for a few extra seconds while I gather my ****, check my phone based on where I've just gone/who I'm meeting etc. so I have it in neutral rather than keeping the clutch in for that time. Handbrake is on once I'm in the position I'll be leaving the car and I know it's crazy but I have every faith that the properly maintained car I have which is using a mature technology won't have a cable spontaneously fail when it's being used well within its operating parameters. Once the car is off I don't see any need to stick it in gear just in case I have a brainfart when I get back in.

jmreire · 14-11-2021 1:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217746/when-parking-do-you-leave-it-in-gear-or-in-neutral

On the level, 1st, facing downhill, reverse, facing uphill, 1st. Never leave it in neutral. Automatic in "P".

passatman86 · 14-11-2021 2:28am

I always leave my car in handbrake and pull up the first

HBC08 · 14-11-2021 3:29am

Would have always left it in neutral,then one evening was visiting a friends house and when I came out the car was gone. It had rolled away from the house (big country house in the middle of nowhere) about 100m down the drive and smashed into his wall,made shite of the wall and the car,must have built up some momentum.Lesson learned,always park in gear since.

14-11-2021 7:18am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118163490#Comment_118163490

But, this is because you forgot to put on the handbrake.

If someone has a habit of forgetting to put on the handbrake then put in gear as a belts and braces approach to double your chances for forgetting neither.

It's at muscle memory for me to put on the handbrake when I park a manual.

sydthebeat · 14-11-2021 8:27am

Always in neutral unless parked in an obvious slope

Bogwoppit · 14-11-2021 8:40am

leaving your handbrake on all the time will stretch the cable and lead to premature wear.

If left with the handbrake on for a long period then there’s a high chance of the brake seizing.

Leaving the car in a low gear is the proper procedure and the handbrake can also be used when on an incline.

L'prof · 14-11-2021 8:48am

Our drive is on an incline and one our car rolled out onto the road in our estate with the handbrake on so we always leave it in gear now. Sometimes I park up and just put on the handbrake then take my foot off the brake and I can feel a bit of a slip so I wouldn’t trust my handbrake all the time

It might be fairly solid after getting a service but as time goes on it definitely gets worse

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

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