Thread: Man dies after being run over while asleep at a camping ground in southern New South

Not applying the hand brake is all part of the lazy driving habits of many. I've seen 3 incidents at boat ramps because of this and one had the boat/trailer still attached. Very funny.
Most dangerous was when driving along Canning Hwy towards Freo one day and a car just slowly drifted out of a driveway in front of me. Strangely enough the driver was adamant that he'd put the brake on ....just like they all reckon.
If it's part of the driving test that they show they know how to do it, it's just another bit they don't bother with as soon as they get a licence.
I do it every time I park, EPB on, car into neutral allowing car to rest on brake, then into P for park. Flat ground or sloped.
AlanH.

I don't know how common it is/was, but a mechanic relative of mine trained his wife and all his children not to use the handbrake, as, on the cars he regularly dealt with, these used a bowden cable to an under dash lever that invariably rusted and was prone to jam in the on position. Once a year, for roadworthy, he spent half a day getting the handbrake working reliably! While the reason probably disappeared when manufacturers started either covering the cable with nylon or lining the outer with nylon (also about when under dash handbrakes became less common) I suspect the habit probably continued long after there was any justification.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I don't know how common it is/was, but a mechanic relative of mine trained his wife and all his children not to use the handbrake, as, on the cars he regularly dealt with, these used a bowden cable to an under dash lever that invariably rusted and was prone to jam in the on position. Once a year, for roadworthy, he spent half a day getting the handbrake working reliably! While the reason probably disappeared when manufacturers started either covering the cable with nylon or lining the outer with nylon (also about when under dash handbrakes became less common) I suspect the habit probably continued long after there was any justification.

What was wrong with simply lubricating the cable every service??
Teaching your family Not to use the handbrake just because you are too bone idle to service it is a Bloody stupid and downright dangerous idea

Knowing Noel a little (AncientMariner)
That won’t be no Chincy Pom X-Brake
That will be a one-off beautifully engineered
Custom engineered masterpiece!

Would be perfect for launch/retrieve big boats with electric winches

I had a 6x6 chunk of hardwood on a length of restraint rope tied to the tray
For lunch retrieve
Fender in neutral idling to keep Volts up to the boat winch
Handbrake on and block of wood chocking back wheel

S

Originally Posted by trout1105

What was wrong with simply lubricating the cable every service??
Teaching your family Not to use the handbrake just because you are too bone idle to service it is a Bloody stupid and downright dangerous idea

The only way to lubricate them was to completely disassemble the cable - there was no provision for lubrication. Probably take as long as the rest of the service since they were apparently not designed to be disassembled.

Lots of dubious practices were commonplace in the 1940s and 1950s into the sixties when society as a whole was far less well off than today, and safety standards a lot lower - as shown by the road toll! Also considerable hangover of makeshift practices from wartime shortages.

Originally Posted by p38arover

Back in the mid-Sixties, a neighbour from across the road knocked on our door to tell us my '38 Vauxhall was in their driveway. No damage to it or the neighbour's property. That taught me that hand brakes aren't infallible.

so Ron vauxhall all the way over to his neighbours house to get his car.

My Dad rarely used a handbrake. Back in his day, foundation brakes were single circuit hydraulic affairs and handbrakes were cable operating on the rear drums. His justification was that if the footbrake failed, he wasn't going to rely on a stretched cable to pull up.

How many people disengage the ratchet when applying the handbrake? It would be interesting to know how many run-aways were caused by worn ratchet failures.