Handbrake failed and now I need a new garage door and bumper!

jonny2510

As someone else has mentioned, those parking on drives that rise or fall (or hills for that matter) should park in gear.

If the car is facing uphil, leave it in first.

If the car is facing downhill, leave it in reverse.

Then if the handbrake DOES fail, the car shouldn't move anywhere.

Prob a bit late to find this out now, but may be of use in the future

(I think leaving an automatic in Park has the same effect - although don't hold me to it )

Lunar_Eclipse

ceepsprice wrote: »

I parked my (newly bought secondhand) car on my sloped drive last night ....

I'm wondering if you could have some protection depending on the timing of your purchase? Although I suppose caveat emptor will prevail, plus the handbrake may have been fine with the previous owner.

These things are never nice and certainly don't warrant any rude or selfish replies to your situation.

nobeluk

JoolzS wrote: »

I can't be the only person who's read this thread that really, really hopes that absolutely no insurance will pay out for this.

I know I have to pay for insurance and I also know that part of my insurance premium goes to paying for idiots - I really hate reading about idiots getting a payout.

Julie

Have I just been called an idiot? Someone comes on here and asks for advice and the best some people can do is point blame. I had my car for 4 years before this happened, it was a handbrake failure not my failure, the handbrake had to be replaced at a cost of £260.

I hope the advice given to ceepsprice is of some benefit, pointing blame for a mechanical failure is an idiots reply!

ceepsprice

Nice comments JoolzS, I love the way that some people believe they can call others idiots without knowing a thing about them! In retrospect yes I should have left the car in gear as a 'fail-safe', however the hand brake should have been enough to prevent this accident from happening, it is not the law that you must leave a car in gear when the hand brake is on, nor is it part of the driving test or recommendations for passing your driving test, in fact you could receive a minor fault for leaving your car in gear.

Anyway many thanks for the advice from the majority of you. It is nice to see constructive comments and know that others out there try to help each other.

jonny2510

ceepsprice wrote: »

it is not the law that you must leave a car in gear when the hand brake is on, nor is it part of the driving test or recommendations for passing your driving test, in fact you could receive a minor fault for leaving your car in gear.

To be fair, it is part of the highway code. See quote below for detials:

252

Parking on hills. If you park on a hill you should

• park close to the kerb and apply the handbrake firmly
• select a forward gear and turn your steering wheel away from the kerb when facing uphill
• select reverse gear and turn your steering wheel towards the kerb when facing downhill
• use ‘park’ if your car has an automatic gearbox

Source: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069860

I am in no way trying to rub you up the wrong way, nor do I in anyway agree with JoolzS' comments.

I really do feel for you, because you must be gutted about what's happened, and it obviously was an accident that could have happened to any of us. I just wanted to point out that it was in the highway code

agaveworm

jonny2510 wrote: »

To be fair, it is part of the highway code. See quote below for detials:

Source: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069860

I am in no way trying to rub you up the wrong way, nor do I in anyway agree with JoolzS' comments.

I really do feel for you, because you must be gutted about what's happened, and it obviously was an accident that could have happened to any of us. I just wanted to point out that it was in the highway code

Gold star for the excellent homework....:beer: