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Comment by ilammy | Hacker News Reader

> Remind me again why the brake pedal isn't a button buried in a sub-menu?

“Because title 49, subtitle B, chapter III, subchapter B, part 393, subpart C, paragraph 393.40 of Federal Safety Regulations requires us to install brakes as specified by subpart B, paragraph 571.105 of the same regulations, which require a pedal. And if those did not exist, then we absolutely would install some other bullshit, make you pay extra for it, and bear no responsibility for it whatsoever.”

Glove box isn’t a safety feature? Do whatevs, land of the free.

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Hand brakes are also known as emergency brakes, but in my new Toyota it's electric and activated by a tiny little tab switch.

My previous car a big lever that the passenger could easily yank in an emergency. No thought required, it's a big level you grab and pull.

By the time you find the little black plastic tab amongst all the other similar black plastic doo-dads, you're dead.

Unless you really know what you’re doing, you’re better off trying to steer the car into the safest crash site/uphill possible than to try to stop it with the hand brake. The hand brake only locks the rear wheels and are not designed to brake at driving speeds (they are for keeping a stationary car from moving). Improper use of the handbrake results in the car spinning out.

This is exactly why I'm so sore about the newfangled button handbrake in my current front-wheel driven car. No more fun getting the rear to spin out by yanking the handbrake while exiting a corner at full throttle. Sadness.

What happens when you press it while driving? Does it just not engage if you are driving above a certain speed?

It screeches warnings at me and fully engages the brake after a second or so. Which isn't optimal... because this is such a dumb ass dick move you need good timing over when you engage and release the rear brake. Or otherwise you'll end up outside the designated driving surface.

I call this a ‘no use case’ feature.

Invisible hand etc

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