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10-13-2011, 08:02 AM
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#21
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,888
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas Proud
OK... today when driving to lunch I was sitting at a red light behind a Prius... now, my car is a manual and usually I just sit there without my foot on the brake.. but I noticed that the driver of the Prius had his foot on the brake... why? ....
I have seen this before and have thought the same thing... why are they holding down the brake ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBum
I agree with the safety reasons for keeping your foot on the brake too. It's what I do in my manual at a stop. I put it in neutral, so it would not roll unless I'm on a hill. But I don't want to get bumped into an intersection, and I want the brake lights on so that a car coming up from behind me knows that I'm stopped. Finally, it's not always obvious if I'm on enough of a hill that I'd roll ahead or back, so if I always use the brake I'm not going to misjudge ground that looks flat.
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A big +1 to RunningBum's comments. In fact, when I first read the OP, I asked myself - 'Why don't you hold the brake down when stopped with a manual transmission?' I see benefits, and no downside - Prius, manual or anything.
-ERD50
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10-13-2011, 11:32 AM
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#22
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,237
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ERD50
A big +1 to RunningBum's comments. In fact, when I first read the OP, I asked myself - 'Why don't you hold the brake down when stopped with a manual transmission?' I see benefits, and no downside - Prius, manual or anything.
-ERD50
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OK, I will answer...
I don't see the benefit. Around here, most of the time when you stop you will have someone stopped behind you pretty quickly... I live in a very flat place... the car does not roll most of the time, and when it does I will hold the brake...
My question back: how many times have you been rear ended while being the first person sitting at an intersection Me, none... I have been rear ended twice, once while doing an emergency stop and my car stopped faster than the guy behind me... the other I was in line at a light and saw the guy in my mirror about 15 seconds before he hit me...
So, the fear of being pushed into an intersection is so low IMO that it is not a good reason to hold down the brake..
Now, for the engineers out there... what would fail quicker.... a brake system that was under pressure at every stop for extra hours on end when added up over time, or one that was used to stop the car and then depressurized (to tell the truth, this is not why.... I just don't care to hold down the brake if I don't have to)....
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10-13-2011, 11:55 AM
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#23
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,227
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Once. At a busy intersection. I was damn glad I had my brakes on. Avoiding one potentially very serious injury seems like enough, no? If not, how many deadly injuries do I have to avoid for it to be worth the inconvenience?
I don't think you put any wear on the brake system to hold a car in place that is not moving, but I can't be sure that holding the pedal down doesn't do something, so I'll leave that for someone more knowledgeable to answer.
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10-13-2011, 12:21 PM
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#24
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,888
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bold mine...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas Proud
OK, I will answer...
I don't see the benefit. Around here, most of the time when you stop you will have someone stopped behind you pretty quickly... I live in a very flat place... the car does not roll most of the time, and when it does I will hold the brake...
My question back: how many times have you been rear ended while being the first person sitting at an intersection Me, none... I have been rear ended twice, once while doing an emergency stop and my car stopped faster than the guy behind me... the other I was in line at a light and saw the guy in my mirror about 15 seconds before he hit me...
So, the fear of being pushed into an intersection is so low IMO that it is not a good reason to hold down the brake..
Now, for the engineers out there... what would fail quicker.... a brake system that was under pressure at every stop for extra hours on end when added up over time, or one that was used to stop the car and then depressurized (to tell the truth, this is not why.... I just don't care to hold down the brake if I don't have to)....
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I don't see your logic. 'How many' times something has or has not happened has little to no bearing on the decision. The decision should be based on 'am I improving my odds, what is the downside, and does that downside outweigh the benefit?'.
When I get on a plane, I sure want them to go through the entire checklist, and not skip some things because 'well, THAT part never fell off mid-flight before!'
And for your second example of being rear-ended - who is to say that your brake light would not have caught the guys attention? Again, not really meaningful for a one-time example, but it is a possibility, with no downside. Yes, the brakes will have some added pressure on them for some added time over the life of the car - but that pressure is much lower than )just enough to keep the car from moving) than that used to stop the car, I doubt that it would be responsible for any early failure.
To answer your Q though - I've been rear-ended three times, and avoided a fourth by seeing the guy in my rear-view mirror, scanning the intersection to be sure it was clear, and flooring it and getting on the horn, and I managed to get out of his way (he stopped mid-intersection, I think my sudden movement and horn alerted him, and maybe the fact that my brake lights then 'flashed'' as I took my foot off to accelerate). If I had been in Neutral, it would have slowed my response. He didn't miss me by much.
Anecdotes aside, it just makes sense to me that seeing the brake lights ahead adds one more level of awareness to what is going on ahead. Why even have brake lights if that's not the case?
-ERD50
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10-13-2011, 12:54 PM
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#25
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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I guess I must be really lucky. When I was 15 and taking driving lessons, my instructor clearly told me that my foot had to always be on the brake when waiting at a red stoplight.
I never realized until this moment that some people don't do that.
__________________
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10-13-2011, 12:55 PM
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#26
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,124
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I think all the questions have been answered but as a Prius owner I'll chip in.
If you take the foot off the brake the Prius will creep forward if you are on the level, but will hold its position if on an incline. In other words it behaves like a regular automatic. Removing your foot from the brake engages the electric motor. 18 months ago I had occaision to drive my FIL's car several times in the UK. Each time you came to a stop the engine turned off. As soon as you took your foot off the brake the engine started again ready to move off (it was also a stick shift). I never got used to the engine stopping and starting all the time even though I was used to that with the Prius - I guess that is because you don't hear the electric motor engaging when you take your foot off the brake.
The A/C works fully whether or not the engine is running. However, like a regular car, the heater does not start to blow until the engine has warmed up enough to have hot water flowing through the heater.
I think it is good practice to either have the footbrake applied or the park brake when stopped in case you are rear-ended. Some time back a colleague at work was waiting to turn left when she was rear ended. Unfortunately she had her wheels turned in preparation and was pushed into the oncoming traffic causing her to be hit head on as well.
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10-13-2011, 01:06 PM
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#27
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,237
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ERD50
/snip/
And for your second example of being rear-ended - who is to say that your brake light would not have caught the guys attention? Again, not really meaningful for a one-time example, but it is a possibility, with no downside. -ERD50
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The time mentioned was in a car with an automatic... and my brake lights were on... and I actually pumped them because the guy looked like he was going so fast that I thought he was going to hit me going 60 mph in a 40 mph zone... he did finally slam on his brakes and only hit me going about 30... also, I had nowhere to go as it was two lanes and cars going the other direction and cars in front of me... I just sat there waiting to be hit...
It is not like I am sitting there blissfully ignorant of what is going on behind me... if there is nobody there, I pay attention to the people coming toward me and will tap the brake if they seem to be going fast.. heck, I do that when driving my other cars that have auto...
Also, in my thinking... if someone hits me hard enough to push me into oncoming traffic, then having my foot on the brake is not going to make that much difference... its not like I will not react to being hit and just keep going until I get hit by someone else...
So, I guess we disagree on the upside and the downside... not a problem at all....
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10-13-2011, 01:10 PM
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#28
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,237
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
I think all the questions have been answered but as a Prius owner I'll chip in.
If you take the foot off the brake the Prius will creep forward if you are on the level, but will hold its position if on an incline. In other words it behaves like a regular automatic. Removing your foot from the brake engages the electric motor. 18 months ago I had occaision to drive my FIL's car several times in the UK. Each time you came to a stop the engine turned off. As soon as you took your foot off the brake the engine started again ready to move off (it was also a stick shift). I never got used to the engine stopping and starting all the time even though I was used to that with the Prius - I guess that is because you don't hear the electric motor engaging when you take your foot off the brake.
The A/C works fully whether or not the engine is running. However, like a regular car, the heater does not start to blow until the engine has warmed up enough to have hot water flowing through the heater.
I think it is good practice to either have the footbrake applied or the park brake when stopped in case you are rear-ended. Some time back a colleague at work was waiting to turn left when she was rear ended. Unfortunately she had her wheels turned in preparation and was pushed into the oncoming traffic causing her to be hit head on as well.
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Thanks for the answer... and also to Nords who said the same thing... it seems they programmed it in to act like an auto so you can creep at lights like a number of people do...
I do agree that having your wheels turned prior to making a turn is not a good idea... that is something that I learned not to do....
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10-13-2011, 02:33 PM
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#29
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas Proud
Thanks for the answer... and also to Nords who said the same thing... it seems they programmed it in to act like an auto so you can creep at lights like a number of people do.............
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I think I said this in post #8
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10-13-2011, 03:07 PM
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#30
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,237
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OK.. thanks to you also
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