Anton Yelchin from Star Trek dead at 27

stickyfiddle

ICBM;1118109" said:

WezV said:I dunno, and I am not saying you are wrong. Just that 3 different driving instructors over 10 years have all told me never to leave the car in gear when parked.





Worrying to hear that, when it would have saved this poor chap's life.




stickyfiddle said:As for cars in gear, I literally can't leave my car in gear while parked.





Because it's an automatic? That's what 'Park' does - locks the gearbox.

It's a VW DSG. It's called P on the lever but not sure if that actually locks it or not

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

It's a VW DSG. It's called P on the lever but not sure if that actually locks it or not

You can easily find out. Stop on a slope, put it in P and take the handbrake off.

I'd be surprised if it didn't, but who knows - you can't engage the handbrake on my Renault when the car is moving, and I always thought the handbrake had to be capable of acting as an emergency brake if the main ones fail.

It sounds like this kind of always-have-a-backup thinking is becoming a thing of the past now though. It's tragic that someone has died because of it, but he isn't the first and won't be the last.

PC_Dave

stickyfiddle;1118114" said:

[quote="ICBM;1118109"]WezV said:I dunno, and I am not saying you are wrong. Just that 3 different driving instructors over 10 years have all told me never to leave the car in gear when parked.





Worrying to hear that, when it would have saved this poor chap's life.




stickyfiddle said:As for cars in gear, I literally can't leave my car in gear while parked.





Because it's an automatic? That's what 'Park' does - locks the gearbox.

It's a VW DSG. It's called P on the lever but not sure if that actually locks it or not[/quote]

It does - I've got the same

I rarely use the handbrake on the flat, just leave it in P.

stickyfiddle

I also have auto handbrake... You can definitely switch that off, but it works brilliantly, so I never do.

Philly_Q

Wow, who'd have thought an RIP thread would turn into a debate about handbrakes and gearboxes?

ICBM

Philly_Q said:

Wow, who'd have thought an RIP thread would turn into a debate about handbrakes and gearboxes?

Sorry. I felt I had to mention it since it's very likely it has an important bearing on why he died. If it makes anyone else think about it, that would be worth it.

stickyfiddle

This is not nice news. Apparently his specific model of Jeep has already had a recall for rollaway problems due to lack of clarity when the car was in P or N.

http://jalopnik.com/anton-yelchins-jeep-was-included-in-rollaway-recall-lin-1782277820

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

Philly_Q said:

Wow, who'd have thought an RIP thread would turn into a debate about handbrakes and gearboxes?

Sorry. I felt I had to mention it since it's very likely it has an important bearing on why he died. If it makes anyone else think about it, that would be worth it.

I'm only (gently) taking the piss.

Some friends of mine have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I was in it yesterday as a matter of fact.  I wonder if they're aware of what the Daily Mail is unhysterically calling the "dangerous design flaw" which makes it "easy to forget" if the car's in neutral or park....