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 passed my test in 2017 and was taught to park in neutral.

But you should always give the gear stick a little wobble when you get in

Good MN advice - for heads, and now gear sticks!

I have! Had a lovely day out to have my registration number called over the tanoy that it had rolled into a new car! Since then i always park in gear! Lesson learnt for me!

Me. My car rolled down our road and hit a neighbour's car. But just that once in 30 years of driving and I don't know anyone else is happened to.

Has anybody said why they were taught to park in neutral?

Neutral, as my instructor drilled into me over 30 years ago.

Those of you who were taught to park in neutral, does that include on hills?

I always parked in neutral until one day I forgot (no idea how!) to put my handbrake on & my car rolled away. It wasn't a hilly road either. My mum asked me why I hadn't parked in gear, I didn't even know that was a done thing, always have since tho.

I've come back to my car in a sloping car park to find that another car had slid and damaged a couple of cars. The damaged cars were blocked in and their owners were waiting with the police for the person whose car had rolled.

Always park in neutral unless on an incline. All of our family were taught to park in neutral by driving instructors. I passed my test in 1985 and was taught this. Most recent test was taken by DD last year. Her instructor also taught her to park in neutral. It’s the standard way to park.

Most new cars now have electromechanical handbrakes which don't fail as there is no cable to snap.

I haven’t had a car that would start without you putting the clutch down first in decades

Presumably to make it less likely that someone will bunny hop the car next time they start it, which can happen if the next driver forgets the precautionary waggle.

I can hear Bob my instructor saying "handbrake, out of gear" at the end of every lesson even now, and I learned in 1990!

Those who say they were taught to park it in gear- when you finished your test and parked up in the test centre to be told your results, did you really put the car in first gear then?

Those who say they were taught to park it in gear- when you finished your test and parked up in the test centre to be told your results, did you really put the car in first gear then?

I did, yes.

Neutral unless on a hill. The handbrake failing did happen to my friend and her car rolled down the hill and ran into another car.

Always in gear. I've had a handbrake fail on a very very slight slope and roll

Well, there you go. This clearly means that there is no hard and fast rule. So you and your DH are both right OP.

Oh and when my handbrake failed, the guy tried to claim for injury after his statement saying "both cars were parked and unoccupied"
He also claimed for about £3000 worth of damage - to a Hilux. My tiny VW had rolled at about 5mph all of a few metres. They didn't pay out fully then I got a court letter 2 years later. Insurance paid out as it was cheaper than going to court
My car didn't have a mark on it

Yes even the slightest of hills, park in gear; flat space, in neutral; always wiggle the stick before you start up.
We left our 7 year old car parked on a very slight incline in neutral. When we returned it had slid 10 metres and bumped into a bigger car. Went through the insurance, but I still worry what could have happened if there had been a child in the way, or if it had rolled into the road.

Always in gear, in case I forget to pull the handbrake if anything. There was a heartbreaking story a couple of years ago about a toddler in Wales who drowned after the car she was in rolled down a slipway and into water.

A neighbour's car rolled into ours when parked. Took out our back bumper and rear post.

I agree, I'm an observer for the local Institute of Advanced Motorists group and we "teach" to park with handbrake on and in gear (reverse if facing downhill and 1st if on level or facing uphill). We also teach to depress the clutch when starting the car as apparently it reduces wear. It's part of the "cockpit" drill to check the car is in neutral!

For all those posters who don't seem to ever use the handbrake, we also teach to apply the handbrake when stationary at traffic lights, in queues, etc., to avoid being shoved into the car in front if hit from behind.

Everyone who says they’ve been taught to park the car in neutral makes no sense- when you park an automatic car in “park” it does the same thing- locks the gearbox as a fail safe if the parking brake fails.

Gearbox engaged, so movement is limited.