Handbrakes. TikTok, you are doing it wrong

Once again social media has created an issue where there really wasn't one to begin with.

A video is doing the rounds where a young Australian driver queries whether she should a) be using her handbrake and b) if she does, when to apply the brake when putting the car in park.

The TikTok user, Emily, says that as long as she has been driving, she puts the car in park and then applies the brake, and that she has now been told this is incorrect.

People are losing their TikTok minds, with thousands of comments left on the video, which has had almost a quarter of a million views, vilifying the poor driver for 'doing it wrong'.

Emily, can we please set your mind at ease, that your process of stopping your car, putting the transmission in park, then applying the handbrake is perfectly correct.

For those who suggest you need to put the the car in neutral, apply the handbrake, lift your foot from the main brake to allow the handbrake to take the weight of the vehicle before you put it in park, so as to protect the transmission... you can do this if you like, but unless your transmission is made of cake, there is no real benefit to this step.

For those who suggest that leaving the car in park is enough, and that your handbrake isn't needed at all, you are wrong.

A car should always have the handbrake applied, and in fact per Regulation 213 of the National Road Traffic Act (1961), it legally needs to be applied unless the environmental conditions make this impossible.

The rule states:

For example, if the car is parked in a ski-resort carpark, the freezing temperatures can force the handbrake pads to stick to the brake rotors. If you leave your brake off, then place chocks or other restraints in front of your wheels to stop the car moving, lest it find a way to get to the bottom of the hill faster than you do.

This is an extreme exception though, and for the majority of situations, the brake must be applied. If you have a manual car, we'd always suggest leaving it in gear too (especially if you park on a hill), as an extra precaution from it rolling away.

For those with an automatic, you will not cause damage to your transmission by putting the car in park then applying the brake. It's the way all modern cars with automatic electric handbrakes operate anyway!

So please, TikTok, leave Emily alone, and always use your handbrake, no matter what sequence you use to get there.