[Jonathan Leane]

American Woman Living in Sydney Shocked to Learn Aussies Use the Handbrake When Parking​

Engaging your car’s handbrake whenever you park comes off as natural for most of us, but on the opposite side of the world, Americans apparently rely mainly on automatic transmission and leave their vehicles (make sure to say this with an American twang: vee-hick-ell) in ‘park’ when they exit them.

An American woman living in Sydney took to TikTok to share her newfound realisation that using your car’s handbrake is necessary when parking.

In a now viral TikTok, the driver called Brit talked about how she’s never used a handbrake in her entire life, and revealed how shocked she was when she learned that Aussies relied on it whenever we park our cars.

An American living in Sydney was shocked to learn that Aussies always used their handbrakes when parking. Source: TikTok @ivereachedanewlow​

‘If you're American, do you use the parking brake when you drive? Or when you park, I suppose? Because I've never used one in my entire life. But I think everyone uses them in Australia.’ she said in her video.

'And my boyfriend asks me to drive and I have to look at it and say ''Is it on? I don't know''.'

The video was captioned with: ‘They’re so safe here I love it’, to which she immediately received plenty of comments criticising her for the video.

One comment even said: ‘How did you get a licence to drive here? Handbrake use is in the driving test, you either get ticked or failed on it’.

‘Yeah if you want to find your car where you left it’, one sarcastic commenter wrote in response to Brit’s video.

In a follow-up video, Brit explained that cars do not ‘just roll away’ in the US and that they were taught only to ‘use the parking brake if the driver were to stop on a hill’.

‘When you put it in park, you can lean on it, you can push it, it doesn't roll anywhere'.

She even took the time to do a bit of independent research and check Google to see if it was ‘ok to leave the car in park without a handbrake’.

The search result read: ‘If there is no mechanical flaw in the car, it should not roll away in park.”, which she took as a confirmation for the bizarre practice of not engaging your handbrake.

But, silly Google searches aside, should you actually be using your car’s handbrake every time you park? One source tells us that you absolutely should!

Your car’s brakes are controlled by a mechanical component called a ‘parking pawl’ that locks up your car’s transmission when you set your vehicle in park. Just like any other mechanical piece of your car, these pawls can break, tear, and wear over time as you use them and put stress on the part.

A parking pawl used in automatic transmission. Source: Wikimedia Commons​

Constant use of this parking pawl through automatic transmission can easily wear down its gears, though this can be alleviated with proper use of your car’s handbrake. If you want to learn more in-depth information about this topic, you can watch the YouTube video below that talks about why you should always use your parking brake when parking:

​

So, when should you be using your car’s handbrake? The simplest answer to this question is to engage your car’s handbrake whenever you park, no matter the slope or incline. This will prolong the lifespan of your car’s mechanical parts and reduce the stress that they receive!

 

[Pommyoz]

Yep, that's true. When in America, my host couldn't find a park, she squeezes into a spot using the bump method, and we did get in, BECAUSE their handbrake was not on.

 

[Gazman]

Oops, I'm not American but I don't use park either. Back in manual days if you parked uphill you lreft the car in forward gear, downhill you left it in reverse.

 

[Thecla]

trying doing that in the newer model cars.... hand brake on id part of the exiting of the car!!

 

[MotherGoose]

Silly woman. Why does she think cars come equipped with a handbrake - for decoration? The whole purpose of the handbrake, also known as a parking or emergency brake, is to keep the vehicle securely motionless when parked or when needed as an emergency brake. Not using it can damage your automatic transmission. How on earth do these people get a licence to drive?

 

[mark godwin]

isn,t it called "the parking brake". i was taught it took pressure of the gearbox . 0n a hill you,d have to wrench it into drive .

 

[Marj53]

I always try to remember to put my parking brake on but I have to admit I have forgotten a couple of times when I have parked in my carport. Always wonder why I forgot those couple of times though. Getting old I guess ☹☹

 

[Roh]

These days most vehicles are automatic so the need to know how to use the handbrake is not as necessary perhaps as when we only drove manual vehicles. I wonder how those who haven't driven a manual car would go if they had to do a handbrake start on a really really steep hill (going up the hill)!! Many improvements have been made over the past few decades to safety etc with vehicles but I still engage the hand brake whenever and where ever I am parked.

 

[Ezzy]

I was taught to always turn the wheels towards the kerb when parking down hill / up hill together with the handbrake applied. I had a relative who parked on a hill without using the handbrake (one Chrirmas Day) & came out to find the car had reversed down the hill & wiped out a brick letterbox.

I was once a passenger in an Austin 1800 being driven uphill by an Englishman. To my surprise he put the car in neutral, turned the motor off, pulled the handbrake on & exited the vehicle.

I always put the automatic car in neutral (motor still running) with my foot on the foot brake, apply the hand brake & remove my foot from the brake. If the handbrake holds good , if it doesn't l apply more handbrake & then put the selector into Drive. Never had a problem yet, but always use a handbrake where needed (not on flat ground).