Should You Engage the Handbrake or Shift Gear First When Driving?

[AlainaRose]

When driving, you should first shift into gear and then release the handbrake. Cars generally come in two types: automatic and manual. For manual transmission cars, the starting procedure involves shifting into gear first before releasing the handbrake. The steps for parking are quite simple: when parking, first press the brake pedal, then once you feel the car's speed decreasing, press the clutch, shift into neutral, engage the handbrake, and finally turn off the engine and remove the key. For automatic transmission cars, when parking, you must shift from D (Drive) to N (Neutral), engage the handbrake, then shift to P (Park), and turn off the engine. It doesn't matter whether you turn off the engine before shifting to P or after shifting to P—modern technology prevents engine damage from turning off the engine in N. However, P is the parking gear, and when parking on a slope, you must engage the handbrake to prevent the car from rolling.