Electric handbrakes said it would happen!!!

[codprawn]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8204326.stm

Bloody things should be banned - poor kid had a really lucky escape - what chance has anyone got of finding out how to use one in an emergency???

[Leapy]

"Paige Dean accidently knocked off the car's handbrake..."

How do you 'accidently' leave an 11 year old in charge of a car on the edge of a cliff, put/leave the keys in the ignition, turn the ignition on, put your foot on the foot brake, press a switch and take your foot off the foot brake?

With a mechanical handbrake, you could always just 'accidently' press a button and the same would occur.

Rather than blaming the handbake, why not blame the parents?

[doggypaddle]

Driver error too??? I always park in bottom or reverse gear and on lock pointing to the kerb too.......if the car was in gear or park it wouldnt have rolled away. The other question is given electronic handbrakes are interlocked to the footbrake how can you knock it off accidentally?

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

The other question is given electronic handbrakes are interlocked to the footbrake how can you knock it off accidentally?

Quite

[Mollers]

Is this not just another car over a cliff incident, where the car happened to have an electronic handbrake, as they are now more common?

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Is this not just another car over a cliff incident, where the car happened to have an electronic handbrake, as they are now more common?

I'm sure you're right... I just don't understand why the handbrake is being blamed as opposed to those in charge of the car

[chewy]

Originally Posted by Leapy

I'm sure you're right... I just don't understand why the handbrake is being blamed as opposed to those in charge of the car

Because Codders started the thread.

[codprawn]

No because it makes it too easy to happen.

Kids love playing with buttons. When she accidently released the brake she didn't have a clue how to put it back on - a handbrake is FAR more intuitive.

And the kid said she was on the passenger side.

i am very sorry I just do NOT trust electronics enough!!!

There was a photo on this very site of a new Pugeot I think which had driven itself into a marina. It was locked - in gear and had a remote start key fob thing. It shouldn't have happened - but it did............

Once when I recovered my boat my mate's dozy father forgot to put the handbrake on in my Disocvery - I was in the boat on the trailer heading backwards down a steep slip. I yelled at him and he managed to jump back in and grab the handbrake - what chance would he have had of finding a small button?

What is wrong with a simple mechanical lever?

[Rogue Wave]

I agree,

no need for it to be electric

[doggypaddle]

Originally Posted by codprawn

No because it makes it too easy to happen.

Kids love playing with buttons. When she accidently released the brake she didn't have a clue how to put it back on - a handbrake is FAR more intuitive.

And the kid said she was on the passenger side.

i am very sorry I just do NOT trust electronics enough!!!

There was a photo on this very site of a new Pugeot I think which had driven itself into a marina. It was locked - in gear and had a remote start key fob thing. It shouldn't have happened - but it did............

Once when I recovered my boat my mate's dozy father forgot to put the handbrake on in my Disocvery - I was in the boat on the trailer heading backwards down a steep slip. I yelled at him and he managed to jump back in and grab the handbrake - what chance would he have had of finding a small button?

What is wrong with a simple mechanical lever?

Dont you mean.....

Once when I recovered my boat my mate's dozy father forgot to put the handbrake on in my Disocvery - I was in the boat on the trailer heading backwards down a steep slip. I yelled at him and he managed to jump back in and grab the handbrake - and i spent the rest of the week bouncing up and down the slipway because of all the backlash in the transmission

[doggypaddle]

if you think an electronic handbrake is dodgy what about all the interlocks on the starter?
several times I have stalled a modern car when entering a roundabout because I havent been used to the vehicle, now usually in a normal car with the vehicle still moving i would just pick a gear, dump the clutch and carry on! not in a modern car! trying to apply the handbrake, press the clutch and footbrake and select neutral all in the right order so it will let you start it, whilst sat in the middle of a roundabout aint fun
I like my landrover

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by codprawn

What is wrong with a simple mechanical lever?

Funnily enough, what's wrong is that it's not what the customer wants as a priority in that part of a car.

Vehicle manufacturers spend a lot of time and effort surveying and understanding what customers need and want. When it comes to interior packaging, customers state that they want convenient places for phones, money, drinks, wallets...and what they don't want is to compromise stowage space for stuff like handbrake levers, gear levers and the like. Take at look at the Disco 3 and 4...no handbrake lever...or the Jaguar XF/XK/XJ which has neither handbrake nor gear selector levers.

The world moves on and finds different ways of doing things. It's why we don't all still ride around with the horse and cart.

I'll get my coat.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Rogue Wave

I agree,

no need for it to be electric

I agree to a degree, other than, there's not a lot of room for a large mechanical lever in some modern cockpits. Also, you could use that argument against powered windows, sunroofs etc.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

............I like my landrover

Me too, it has an electronic handbrake.

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

if you think an electronic handbrake is dodgy what about all the interlocks on the starter?
several times I have stalled a modern car when entering a roundabout because I havent been used to the vehicle, now usually in a normal car with the vehicle still moving i would just pick a gear, dump the clutch and carry on! not in a modern car! trying to apply the handbrake, press the clutch and footbrake and select neutral all in the right order so it will let you start it, whilst sat in the middle of a roundabout aint fun
I like my landrover

The wife's car has no keys for locking or starting, just a card in her pocket/ handbag, its a right pain to start

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Me too, it has an electronic handbrake.

Ditto

And bloody good and useful it is too

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by bedajim

The wife has no key for locking or starting, just cards in her pocket/ handbag and phoneboxes.

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Jusr remember the Piglet's coming to see you

[doggypaddle]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Me too, it has an electronic handbrake.

I have a standard handbrake.....but i rarely use it. cant reach the bloody thing with the seatbelt on. thats 60s ergonomics for you
guess i should have used the disco handbrake lever and cable along with the gearbox i used

[boomer]

What electric handbrake, it was a standard one

She was listening to music in the car when she accidentally knocked off the brake and despite frantic attempts, she could not pull it back up.