If you are driving, be aware that the so-called handbrake, that lever that many cars have between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat, can also be used as an emergency brake if the brake pedal does not respond.
You just gotta go by gradually stretching the lever and the vehicle will begin to stop. Do not stretch it suddenly, as this could jam the wheels and cause you to lose control of the vehicle or even overturn it.
What happens to vehicles equipped with a handbrake activated by a button or electronic lever?
If this is the case, it is possible that it activates thousands of times while the vehicle is stationary and the wheels are completely blocked.
Will the same thing happen if activated while driving? There are only two ways to find out: one is experience it personally or ask someone to tell you. Anyway, just in case, we will opt for the second option.
When the electronic handbrake is activated, a mechanism puts pressure on the rear wheel discs, which will lose their ability to roll.
The automatic is much more convenient than the manual lever, since the intensity of the lock does not change It will depend on how hard we stretch.
When driving, the new system actually has greater benefits than the traditional system because it functions as an emergency brake.
In this sense, the expert Nacho Torres wanted to say it on TikTok. All this was demonstrated in a video where the electronic handbrake was activated and the vehicle stopped abruptly, but in a controlled manner and without any danger other than that which occurred. the risk of rear-end collisionwhen the driver behind us cannot react to the suddenness of the braking.
Road accidents continue to occur every year, due to carelessness, although there are certain tools like the handbrake that can help us, but which are often not used as they should, largely through ignorance.
Advantages of using the handbrake
Among the least used driving tools correctly, we can talk about the handbrake, which has the most important function of place mechanical resistance What it does is prevent the wheels from turning and prevent the car from sliding due to its own inertia.
What is the reason it is not used well?
There are people, like novice drivers, who don’t know where it is or how it works. As we said at the beginning, the handbrake is a secondary brake that requires the application of force to activate itat least in the traditional ones.
It is only used when the car is parked for long periods of time, which is not entirely accurate, because, when a person gets out of their car to examine it or quickly perform any sort of activity, it can also activate it and thus incidents are avoided.
Car accidents due to improper handbrake use
When misused, it causes thousands of accidents each year. It is estimated that more than fifteen percent of road accidents are due to improper use.
In some cases, the driver leaves said brake activated when he wants to drive, which ends up damage the parking brake cables in the long termwhich causes the wheels to slip, even when the handbrake is applied, causing accidents that are difficult to avoid.
Many vehicles have a light on the dashboard that tells you when the parking brake is active. The fact is that this will not prevent accidents from happening, because many distracted drivers do not pay attention to these types of instructions.
The handbrake saves lives
Accidents often end badly due to brake failure, and this is where we need to emphasize the advantages of this type of brakesince tragedies can be avoided or mitigated thanks to it.
It is clear that it has a series of advantages that we must value, which is why it is worth knowing it and using it appropriately, which ultimately makes the difference.
