You may have wondered why the car is not rolling away despite parking it on the slope? I was also curious about this fact until I found an article about the parking brake and its mechanism.
The car remains motionless despite parked on the slope is because the parking brake is activated. It prevents the car from moving forward or backward after the engine is turned off.
The parking brake is alternatively known as E-brake or emergency brake. It can save you from a devastating accident if the main brake of your car fails.
So, let’s dive deep into the topic and explore the reasons why you need the parking brake and how it works!
What is Parking Brake?
Secondary braking system to leave the vehicle motionless when you are not near the car. It freezes the wheel in the spot so that it can’t move because of the slope or any other reason.
If you can’t locate it, the parking brake is located between the front seats in most of the vehicles. You should’ve seen a lever equipped with a button at the end between the front seats. That’s the emergency or parking brake of your car.
In some cars, you may find it with the other pedals or it may have been configured in just a push button in the dashboard. So, check your owner’s manual to get a better view of the parking brake of your car.
When to Use Parking Brake?
As we’ve already talked about this, you need to activate the parking brake when you need to park the car on a slope to prevent it from rolling away.
However, we recommend activating the parking brake every time you put your car in the parking mode to keep the brake up and running. Otherwise, it may corrode and break but you don’t have any idea about the corrosion until you absolutely need it. But that would be too late to notice.
So, make it your habit of activating the parking brake whenever you put your vehicle in the parking mode. This has other advantages as well! It will prevent your car from moving and causing damage to both the vehicle and your property due to a sudden storm.
Apart from keeping the vehicle motionless when parked, this brake acts as a secondary braking system in your car that can come handy if your primary brake fails. Although the parking brake won’t be able to stop your car instantly like the primary brake, it will allow you to slow down the vehicle and stop it gradually to prevent a life-threatening accident.
Final Thoughts
Understanding how the emergency braking system works is necessary for using it rightly in the right situation. If you just pull the parking brake at full speed, you may lose your last lifeline to stop the vehicle.
The parking brake works when the car is parked or at least, slowed down. So, do things like removing the pressure from the gas pedal, shifting the gear to the lowest, and pressing the primary brake fast a few times to slow down the car.
After you get to a decent and slow speed, pull the parking brake to stop the vehicle.
To get the best of your lifeline on the highway with a broken brake, you need to maintain and check the parking brake regularly.