to not park my car in gear?

[CrazylazyJane]

DH and I are at odds on whether you are supposed to park your car in gear or not, so settle the argument for us.

He maintains that he was taught to always leave your car in first gear when you park it incase the hand break fails

I was taught to leave the car in neutral when parking. The only exception being when you're parked on a steep hill, you may consider leaving your car in gear to prevent it from rolling.

I drive DG's car a few times a year and today jumped in it and bunny hopped as I turned on the ignition. Yes, yes, one should always check the gear stick before turning the engine on but I don't routinely as I would always leave a manual car in neutral. So AIBU for being annoyed that he keeps doing this?

I park in gear as my car manual advised to.

I always park in gear. A few years ago, my hand brake failed after a very long drive and rolled into a static caravan on the first day of my holiday.

Always in neutral unless parked on a hill.

Our 3 year old car requires you to depress the clutch once the key is in as it won't let the engine start until you do. I think most newer cars do? I find that it encourages me to give the gear stick a wobble at the same time as I press the clutch down to check that it is in neutral?

I leave mine in neutral on the flat, but in gear if on a hill

My dad always taught me this, shame he forgot one time and his car rolled down a hill... luckily it got a wall before the house. Also happened to his best friend on a driveway (very small slope, practically flat), luckily the garage door was just dented and no one was there.

Always in gear. I was taught to park in neutral as driving instructor said that’s what I’d be expected to do on my test. He, however always parked in gear and advised me to do the same. You should always check your gearstick anyway so you shouldn’t get bunny hops.

I have not had my handbrake fail, but I failed to apply it on the almost flat drive. The second time of it running gently but firmly into the garage door convinced me to park in first!

Always in gear.

Neutral on flat areas, in gear on inclines.

Neutral, unless on a hill. What is the point otherwise? Never known handbrake to fail.

I agree with you, should always park in neutral apart from on a steep slope. I don't think you can get annoyed with him though, just remember he feels differently if going to drive his car.

Always in neutral unless on a steep hill

I will park in gear if on any incline (reverse or first depending on which way I’m facing). If flat, no gear.

My car’s handbrake failed back in the mid-nineties.
It rolled down the drive and halfway down the street during the evening at some point. DP came home from his shift about 11pm and asked me why I’d left the car in the middle of the road. 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

The even spread of answers piqued my interest and a quick internet search shows it can be a done thing to park in gear, even on a level surface, just in case of handbrake fail, though there was an equal amount of advice to park in neutral. Thanks @CrazylazyJane it's an interesting point (I am still on team neutral btw!)

Only in gear on a hill

I;ve never heard of anyone parking in gear and this thread has blown my mind! DH parks in neutral too and he learned about 15 years before me. I've also just asked my group chat and all 5 of them have never heard of parking in gear as it's not how we were taught.

It does make sense to park in gear on a hill though, it's just I don't think I've ever had to! We seem to live in a very flat area now that I think of it!

I was sitting in a motorway service station car park eating my lunch when a car started rolling back towards me, and smashed into the front of my car.

After this experience I always park in gear.

There was an incident where a car rolled into a lake and drowned a 2 year old who was in it. It wasn't clear whether handbrake actually failed though. It was in the newspaper and disussed on here although not anyone I know.

I've also heard of an incident where someone bunny hopped a car by accidentally starting in gear and it ran over a toddler who was right behind it. So you can't win either way it seems.

I always parked in gear, I learned to drive in the late 1990s and it’s how I was taught. I live in a pretty hilly area though.

I used to drive a banger years ago and I once forgot to park in gear and my handbrake failed on me in a supermarket car park and bumped in to a BMW, I never forgot after that.

I drive an automatic these days and my car shouts at me if I don’t put it in park when I turn off the ignition.

I park in neutral but my boss always nags me to park our work car in gear as that's what they were taught. On the other hand the hand break on that car has failed in the past so maybe it's sensible to do so!

It happened to my friend about 4 weeks ago, she was walking down the hill towards the car and noticed it was moving, luckily it hit a concrete post as it was on a very steep hill. Handbrake failure.

It's an age thing, you used to be taught to park in gear when handbrake were rubbish, anyone who learnt to drive in the last 30 years should have been taught to park in neutral. Similar thing to going through the gears, my ex would always go up or down into every gear, 5th, 4th 3rd, 2nd, 1st whereas I was taught that you don't need to do this and in today's cars can jump from 4th to 2nd or 1st for example.

I park in gear!