ISTR parking brakes on drum brakes don't work so good when the car is parked pointing up hill.
Of course parking brakes on discs bring their own problems.
Stick it in gear.
In San Francisco's steep hills its a requirement to turn you front wheels into the kerb to stop run aways
No, I expect them to not dazzle other road users, and be courteous by obeying the highway code.
David
Given that the vast, vast majority of rear drums are not twin-leading- shoe, so have one leading and one trailing shoe, they'll bite equally well both ways. But the leading shoe tends to "bite" and "self-servo" when the drum's rotating, anyway, rather than when it's stationary.
The same argument could be made for driving with front fog lights on. I've had it made to me when I mentioned that the gentleman had done that. "Some years ago somebody ran into me. Since I started putting my fog lights on nobody has".
(I do wonder if he'd buy my tiger repellent - it's worked well here).
He genuinely believed it improved safety doing that, just as you genuinely believe leaving your brake lights on while in a queue does.
Now if you'd said you leave them on till the first car has stopped, I'd agree that was reasonable. But you did say you leave them on for a lot longer.
IOW, he had his own form of daytime running lights, which have been shown to reduce accidents. Using fog lights for that purpose when visibility is not restricted is illegal and he would have done better to use dipped headlights, but, in principle, he was right.
I said I leave them on until they have done the job they are supposed to do. That may well be after the first car has stopped. It may be longer, depending upon the circumstances. There is, for example, one level crossing I use regularly where, because of the road layout, approaching cars may see cars in the queue before they see the car at the end. If I am in the position where I can be seen, but not the car behind me, I will leave the brake lights on until the second car stops.
As I said, you think they should put a mild, temporary inconvenience to a driver who might be behind them and who is unduly sensitive to glare before their own safety.
Yes but the application of the brakes by the hand brake differs from that of the foot brake.
We used to have a drive with a slope on it. If I reversed in and applied the handbrake as normal all was o/k. If I drove in forward it required a much heftier pull on the hand brake to get it to hold
That's where you were probably going wrong. It's usually much more effective if you first apply the footbrake (hard, if necessary), and while you're pressing the pedal, you apply the handbrake (firmly, but not ridiculously so). When you release the footbrake, you'll find the handbrake holds much better.
Have you ever looked inside a drum brake...?
More times than I care to recall. They're not all the same and some designs wear better than others for ease of use or application in service. Others simply never worked properly from the get-go and got worse in service, leading to exactly the effect described.
Not sure on what basis you think that you are the arbiter of what is a "mild inconvenience" for others, OR that people who are dazzled[1] are "unduly sensitive".
The entire tone of all your responses, Colin, is that the centre of the universe is ... you, alone.
John
[1] As I've said before, I am one of those who is dazzled -- and I mean "look away or lose your vision" -- by the brake lights of cars ahead of me in a queue, if they are of particular makes.[2] [2] And -- furthermore -- from what you've said, you release your footbrake when the car (or cars) behind you has (or have) stopped. Since, as also stated previously, you don't use the parking brake in your space-age automobile, what is then holding it? If you roll back into the person behind you .... nononono ... don't tell me: it'll be _their_ fault won't it?
Hmmm don't think so. On the basis that if parking on a hill I have the footbrake applied anyway before I apply the handbrake.
This is all way out of date now anyway. I can't remember the last car I had that had drumbrakes at the rear.
Yes. Many times. The foot brake on the ones I was familiar with was worked via hydraulics while the handbrake was applied via cable
FFS, I've got a couple with drums at the front... Still, one of those has one of those new-fangled servos, so it can't be all bad.
Yebbut....... The footbrake acts on all four wheels, and will be much more effective the handbrake alone (assuming that, even with discs all round, it only works on the rear wheels).
The difference between the footbrake holding firmly, and the car rolling away, requires only a slight reduction in the overall friction of the pads/shoes on the drums/discs. Once you've released the footbrake, the handbrake has to do all the work - and the best way of ensuring that it's hard on is to apply a lot of pressure on the footbrake as you yank on the handbrake lever. [I've had some cars with embarrassingly poor handbrakes, so I know this is true!]
Adam knows a song about that ...
On the basis that nobody with normal eyesight should find brake lights dazzling, except, possibly, on an unlit road at night.
...
Then I will repeat my advice that you should see an optician. Undue sensitivity to glare could be an early sign of a cataract or, as posted by polygonum, might be a sign of hypothyroidism.
As I said, I put the car into Park.
I hate to say it, but you're talking crap. Most normal people suffer from brake light dazzle. It's also much worse under wet conditions. Led stop lamps appear to me to be even worse for dazzle than the traditional
21W incandescent lamps.
Wrong again.
HC rule 114:
"You MUST NOT:
use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226).
In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again. Law RVLR reg 27"
and
HC rule 144:
"You MUST NOT
drive dangerously drive without due care and attention drive without reasonable consideration for other road users. Law RTA 1988 sects 2 & 3 as amended by RTA 1991"
and
HC rule 147:
"Be considerate. Be careful of and considerate towards all types of road users, especially those requiring extra care (see Rule 204)."
Now you know that there could be other road users behind that are dazzled by the glare of bright brake lights, you still refuse to extinguish the brake lights when *you* think it is better to keep them on.
This is not being considerate to other road users that are just as entitled to be on the road as you, maybe more so as they might be more considerate than you have shown yourself to be.
You are *not* more important than other individuals, and the rules apply to *you* too.
SWMBO just had three days with a Mercedes hire car, the parking brake was a push button. Nothing could be easier.
David
(snip)
Most BMWs have a drum handbrake / parking brake within the rear disc, so unfortunately the pressing of the footbrake pedal does not help to increase the pressure of the drum to the shoes.
IYSWIM
David
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