Should You Engage the Handbrake or Shift Gears First When Parking an Automatic Transmission Car?
2 Answers
Correct sequence for parking an automatic transmission car: Press the brake pedal - Shift gears - Engage the handbrake - Turn off the engine - Shift to P (Park) position. Below are parking precautions: 1. The P position serves as the parking gear with a certain parking braking force. Its locking mechanism consists of a parking pawl with locking teeth and a parking gear with teeth. 2. When parking, both the handbrake and P position work together to prevent the vehicle from rolling. 3. When shifting to P position in an automatic transmission, the parking gear and parking pawl will interlock. Unlike the precision gears of other positions, slight vehicle movement may sometimes occur when releasing the brake after shifting to P position. 4. For automatic transmissions, parking operations should only be performed after the vehicle has come to a complete stop. Parking while the vehicle is still moving, whether using the handbrake or P position, can cause significant damage to the vehicle.
I've been driving automatics for over a decade, always following the same parking procedure: after coming to a complete stop while keeping the brake pedal depressed, first shift to Neutral to let the car rest momentarily, then engage the parking brake – at this point releasing the footbrake lets you feel the car settle slightly as the weight transfers fully onto the parking brake. Finally, depress the brake again to shift into Park before turning off the ignition. This routine mainly protects the transmission gears, especially when parking on slopes where shifting directly to Park would make the entire vehicle's weight bear down on the transmission's parking pawl mechanism. Over time, this can lead to gearshift stiffness or even component deformation. Last week when helping a friend move his car, I noticed abnormal transmission noises – sure enough, he admitted to habitually shifting straight to Park for convenience.
