Driving: The Essential Skills (TES) says:
The parking brake
You should normally apply the parking brake whenever the vehicle is stationary.
Apply the parking brake… unless the wait is likely to be very short.
Your foot could easily slip off the footbrake if, for example, your shoes are wet or if you’re bumped from behind. You could then be pushed into another vehicle or a pedestrian…
The use of the parking brake is even more important in vehicles fitted with automatic transmission. The parking brake will help avoid
- the possibility of ‘creep’
- the vehicle surging forward if the accelerator is pressed accidentally while in D (Drive)
Although it might seem a controversial comment to make, the people who learn in automatics tend to be the kind who can easily get their feet mixed up, so that second warning is very relevant. It’s bad enough in a manual with some learners.
TES also says:
Section 22 Automatics and four-wheel drive
The importance of the parking brake
Fully applying the parking brake whenever your vehicle is stationary is even more important on an automatic.
If the selector lever is in any position other than P or N, it will move off under power if the accelerator is pressed (accidentally or on purpose) unless the brakes are on.
If the choke (manual or automatic) is in use, an even lighter accelerator pressure can move the vehicle away.
I view of this, it is surprising to see some ADIs advising that you shouldn’t use the parking brake in an automatic. This alternative advice seems to be based on the belief that the drivers in question find it difficult to apply, or that automatic drivers historically have fallen into the habit of not using it. It even appears that some ADIs purposely criticise use of the handbrake because they believe that a pupil’s previous instructor told them to use it every time they stop!
Let’s just set a few records straight. First of all, brake light glare is a very real problem. At night – and especially if it is raining – modern high-intensity brake lights can be painfully bright. TES says:
Junctions at night
Brake lights can dazzle. Don’t keep your foot on the brake pedal if you’re waiting at a junction or queuing in traffic… use the parking brake.
[Similarly with indicators]
Sitting at traffic lights with your foot on the brake is ignorant as well as the sign of a bad (or badly taught) driver.
Secondly, there are many things that learners are taught to do or not do when they are taking lessons. A good example would be adhering to speed limits. The simple fact that many of them choose to ignore speed limits totally once they pass does not mean they are right, or that ADIs should start teaching that way too. For that reason, the apparent fact that most automatic drivers fall into the lazy habit of just sitting there with their foot on the brakes does not in any way make them right or indicate that ADIs who teach in automatics should fall into line.
Going back to the comment I made above, people who learn in automatics very often do so because they can’t handle manual cars. I’ve persuaded several to move to automatics because they just don’t have the coordination to handle the clutch, gears, and brakes. Once they pass their tests, that lack of coordination is bound to lead to not using the handbrake for most of them. But it doesn’t mean they’re right – it just means they’re not very good drivers! (Before anyone rises to that, just think: no matter how nice someone is, how dedicated they are to learning, how desperate they are to pass, whatever their disability or other domestic circumstances, etc., it has no bearing whatsoever on whether they are a good driver or not. It’s just the way it is.)
On the driving test, you won’t immediately fail for not using the handbrake. But you will fail if not using it leads to some other problem, or even if the examiner perceives that there is a significant risk. ADIs shouldn’t be making their own rules up just to fit in with difficult learners.
Not using the parking brake by default is already half way to a fail. And nearly all of the way to being a bad or inconsiderate driver from the moment they get their licence!
But some automatics don’t have a parking brake.
All modern cars have some sort of parking brake. The dangers of not using it have already been outlined. Whether you operate it with your hand, your foot, or through some sort of telepathy, it is there for a reason.
If you’re stopped, brake light dazzle isn’t going to cause an accident, is it?
Driving at night and having to put up with dazzle can lead to tiredness or loss of concentration or awareness. Having bright lights shone unnecessarily in your face in uncomfortable at best, but can potentially lead to more dangerous situations.
If you are teaching people to avoid using the handbrake and not teaching them to think of those behind them, you need to take a serious look at what you are doing. Brake light dazzle IS a significant problem. Holding the car on the footbrake for too long, and especially at night, IS a sign of a bad or inconsiderate driver.
I hate it when I pick up pupils who have been told to use the handbrake every time they stop.
Well, good for you. However, you ought to allow for the fact that most new drivers find it difficult to assess when to do something that should be triggered by judgement or common sense, and often fall into the habit of either always doing it, or always not doing it as a result. They try to pigeon hole everything. So there is a good chance they were not actually told to apply the handbrake “every time”, but have developed that habit themselves as a “just in case” strategy (they do it with signalling to pull over or move off, amongst other things). Mine often try to do it, in spite of me never having taught them to.
TES makes it clear that you should use the handbrake where it would help you prevent the car from rolling.
So it comes down to two options for many learners. Do you:
- NOT use the handbrake and risk rolling?
- use it EVERY TIME just in case?
Only the first one carries any significant risk. The second is not a fault, nor is it a danger to other road users in itself. The only people who see it as a problem are certain ADIs who seem annoyed by it.