Why Use The Handbrake In Cars? — The Use Of Handbrake Explained With A Shocking Video!

The event happened in Kerala. In the video, the car is seen slowly rolling down from the front yard. Since the slope of the driveway is considerably steep, the WagonR started rolling even faster onto the busy road.

The road seemed to have some banking. The ‘non-autonomous' driverless car is seen rolling forward and backwards on the road before reaching a halt. The road is also observed to be very busy. It is pure luck that the car didn't hit something in the oncoming traffic.

Road users slowly started noticing the WagonR acting strangely in the middle of the road. In the end, a person is seen getting into the driver's seat after noticing that the car was unattended.

By the time, the owner and his family also came out of their house after hearing the commotion outside. The whole incident could have ended in a tragedy if it wasn't for luck. If the car was at least in gear, this wouldn't have happened. On the bright side, nothing

Why Should You Use The Handbrake?

We all know that handbrake is used to keep the vehiclestationary, when the driver isn't inside. In addition to this, handbrake also reduces the load on the transmission when the car is stationary.

If a vehicle is parked on a slope in gear, a lot of strain will be developed on the transmission elements due to gravity acting against it. Handbrake takes up much of this, if engaged.

Mechanical handbrake (the commonly seen lever type) usually pulls a cable and engages the rear drum brakes. Cars with rear discs employ brake fluid pressure instead of a cable.

Modern cars also employ an electric handbrake. This is not to be mistaken with ‘Park' in automatic cars. While ‘Park' locks the transmission, parking brake locks the wheels. Also, in automatics, parking brake should be applied even if the car is in ‘Park'.

Thoughts On Why To Use Handbrake

The video footage clearly shows the risks involved in not using the handbrake. A few vehicles are seen going inches away from the driverless car. Had the WagonR been a little late or early in rolling down, it could've surely hit a vehicle in the oncoming traffic. Luckily nothing bad happened. But the footage tells the importance of using the handbrake.