2002
Well-Known Member
I will likely remain incorrigible on this one. Driving a stickshift I always set the parking brake in addition to leaving it in gear. Had one roll once, fortunately no damage or injuries but I made sure that would never happen again.Yes, having the parking brake set before you start the car (doesn't necessarily have to be before turning it off) keeps the DRLs off (so you can sit in the unmoving car dark if you want), but they turn on as soon as you release the parking brake. As far as I know, there's no way to drive with the DRLs off.
A kid in the class ahead of me at my high school in the 80s parked his car in a lot, got out, and it started rolling -- he ran in front of it to try to stop it, and was crushed to death against a wall. It wasn't a particularly visible slope, and the car wasn't rolling all that fast, per his friends who had to watch that. So I *always* set the parking brake in any car, regardless of the perceived slope. In addition to not liking the car rolling a bit when my kids or others are starting to get out of the car, and any potential stress on the parking pawl, I am a fan of redundancy for things that matter -- like keeping a 4000 pound weight from rolling into me, my kids, my pets, anyone else around, my neighbor's house.
It's just a habit now, one of the mental checklist of steps to arriving somewhere -- gear in park (not really necessary but habit because it is on other cars), parking brake set, power button, garage door button, charge port button, door handle...
I am also extremely particular about getting out of any car while it is still running, and that includes the Clarity. Probably overcautious compared to other people who do it all the time, but it's not that hard to turn a car off and back on. If I do think about getting out I have several rules, the main one being to make double sure that obviously it is in Park, also set the parking brake, also roll the window down just to make sure that I can get back in. That last one probably is not necessary with Clarity since I have the fob in my pocket, nevertheless I still keep it as one of my self-imposed rules for getting out of a running car. Normally once I think about doing all of that I just turn it off. About the only time I do it is if I'm listening to the radio and don't want to miss something, and for that I need to roll down the window anyway.
But when parking in my garage or in a parking lot, I consider the risk of relying on the parking pawl to be extremely low. True to be fully safe you should set the parking brake every time you stop, but I just don't, I guess it's my one vice. And luckily for me I always use Brake Hold so it sets the parking brake automatically when I shut off the car. Or at least it says it does I will be watching for that.