Handbrake failure compensation

[mrh339]

Does this admission of a fault mean that Honda will be paying compensation to owners of cars where the handbrake has failed causing damage, loss or injury or do we envisage a watchdog style media/pr disaster and eventual court cases?

[allan40alt]

I doubt it as you could never proove it wasn't your own fault for not applying it fully in the first place.

[mrh339]

Originally Posted by allan40alt

I doubt it as you could never proove it wasn't your own fault for not applying it fully in the first place.

But the level of proof in a county court is probability, So a driver who has never had this problem against a manufacturer with an admitted handbrake problem would stand a very good chance of winning their case. Wouldnt they? Or would it just be easier and cheaper for Honda to settle claims without the need for expensive litigation?

[Essexboy]

if you park on a slope you should also leave your car in gear and turn the wheels towards the curb, it says this in the manual, so I reckon Honda have covered themselves....

[Dalboy]

Originally Posted by Essexboy

if you park on a slope you should also leave your car in gear and turn the wheels towards the curb, it says this in the manual, so I reckon Honda have covered themselves....

Not every slope has a kerb? so do we have to carry a brick in the boot?

[allan40alt]

Originally Posted by Dalboy

Not every slope has a kerb? so do we have to carry a brick in the boot?

No, you leave the car in gear. 1st if you are facing up a slope; reverse if you are facing down.

[allan40alt]

Originally Posted by mrh339

But the level of proof in a county court is probability, So a driver who has never had this problem against a manufacturer with an admitted handbrake problem would stand a very good chance of winning their case. Wouldnt they? Or would it just be easier and cheaper for Honda to settle claims without the need for expensive litigation?

As soon as they admit it to one person an avalanche of claims would follow, whether legitimate or not.

[Dalboy]

Originally Posted by allan40alt

No, you leave the car in gear. 1st if you are facing up a slope; reverse if you are facing down.

I know that (always do), but are they not saying you should also turn your wheels to kerb? not sure as I have not received my letter yet it is waiting for me to pick up (not sure if I will bother).

[Brodick]

Originally Posted by Essexboy

if you park on a slope you should also leave your car in gear and turn the wheels towards the curb, it says this in the manual, so I reckon Honda have covered themselves....

It is the Highway code !!
I was sure this was in the Highway code
Although some people on here feel I defend Honda too much
there is still some responsibility of the owner to do the following
especially if parking on a hill
( then if your handbrake does fail the car should be held in place by the gears)

252

Parking on hills. If you park on a hill you should

• park close to the kerb and apply the handbrake firmly
• select a forward gear and turn your steering wheel away from the kerb when facing uphill
• select reverse gear and turn your steering wheel towards the kerb when facing downhill
• use ‘park’ if your car has an automatic gearbox

[Robit]

If the handbrake was designed properly there would be no need to resort to parking a new car in the same manner as an old banger . The special delivery letter is just to cover Honda ,so they can say they told all owners . They obviously have no idea how to fix it as march/april 2008 is a long time away for a safety related recall , or (and more probable ) they don't give a sh**t

[Dalboy]

Originally Posted by Brodick

( then if your handbrake does fail the car should be held in place by the gears)

My car is only 9 months old the handbrake should not fail

[Dimplyred]

Originally Posted by Brodick

It is the Highway code !!
I was sure this was in the Highway code
Although some people on here feel I defend Honda too much
there is still some responsibility of the owner to do the following
especially if parking on a hill
( then if your handbrake does fail the car should be held in place by the gears)

Parking on hills. If you park on a hill you should

• park close to the kerb and apply the handbrake firmly
• select a forward gear and turn your steering wheel away from the kerb when facing uphill
• select reverse gear and turn your steering wheel towards the kerb when facing downhill
• use ‘park’ if your car has an automatic gearbox

At the end of the day, despite what is or isn't good practice, a hand brake should do it's job without any extra precautions. We are not expecting too much surely for it to hold the car without releasing.

I'm sure that people with alloy wheels and very low profile tyres do not want to, nor would even dream of turning their wheels towards or away from a kerb with powersteering, and risk damaging them.

[Brodick]

Originally Posted by Dimplyred

I'm sure that people with alloy wheels and very low profile tyres do not want to, nor would even dream of turning their wheels towards or away from a kerb with powersteering, and risk damaging them.

If we all lived in San Francisco they would have to

Regardless of how new a car is or isn't and how well it is engineered
you should always leave your car in gear on a hill

There really is no excuse for not doing so ( Handbrakes do their job fairly well, I would be surprised if any car manufacturer would say it was o.k to leave a car parked on a hill with just the handbrake)

and the Highway code applies to all cars not just old bangers If I am parking on a hill I always park in this manner to my mind the first question an insurance company would ask if my car did roll down a hill and crash
would be 'was it in gear'

[Dalboy]

Originally Posted by Brodick

If we all lived in San Francisco they would have to

Regardless of how new a car is or isn't and how well it is engineered
you should always leave your car on a hill

There really is no excuse for not doing so ( Handbrakes do their job fairly well, I would be surprised if any car manufacturer would say it was o.k to leave a car parked on a hill with just the handbrake)

and the Highway code applies to all cars not just old bangers If I am parking on a hill I always park in this manner to my mind the first question an insurance company would ask if my car did roll down a hill and crash
would be 'was it in gear'

I agree you should leave the car in gear also if on hill turn wheels towards kerb (if there is one). But handbrake should not fail

[Brodick]

Originally Posted by Dalboy

I agree you should leave the car in gear also if on hill turn wheels towards kerb (if there is one). But handbrake should not fail

No it should not my handbrake as yet has not failed and I will be surprised if it does it would seem that only a small proportion have so far

This is not the first company to have a car whose handbrakes were prone to failure and they wont be the last - this is part of the reason we are told to also leave our cars in gear - just as a precuation

There is apparently a problem with the Handbrake this may not affect all Handbrakes however in a preventitve measure Honda it would appear honda will replace all handbrakes with a new one next april time
until then they have advised their customer to set the handbrake in a certain fashion and to remember to also leave the car in gear on a hill

I don't have a problem with this

[illegalhunter]

Originally Posted by Brodick

It is the Highway code !!
I was sure this was in the Highway code
Although some people on here feel I defend Honda too much
there is still some responsibility of the owner to do the following
especially if parking on a hill
( then if your handbrake does fail the car should be held in place by the gears)

252

Parking on hills. If you park on a hill you should

• park close to the kerb and apply the handbrake firmly
• select a forward gear and turn your steering wheel away from the kerb when facing uphill
• select reverse gear and turn your steering wheel towards the kerb when facing downhill
• use ‘park’ if your car has an automatic gearbox

alloys kerbbed to death now

[mrh339]

Many people have driveways or parking spaces on a slope and there are no kerbs, my opinion is that Honda would be more likely than not to lose a well presented court case.

[minisweeper]

I love that they've actually turned the wheel into the curb to such an extent that in the right picture the wheel rubber is actually inflected off the stone, probably causing excessive tyre wear.
Being someone who has, very unfortunately (while trying to save myself some effort enabling the cctv system at our stupidly designed office) curbed my alloy by turning it into a curb with the effortless power steering I for one am not particularly keen on this idea. Then again I also dont park in gear. I know they're both well intended but old habits die hard. I really would expect the handbrake to hold my 20k car wherever I leave it.

[mrh339]

Originally Posted by minisweeper

I love that they've actually turned the wheel into the curb to such an extent that in the right picture the wheel rubber is actually inflected off the stone, probably causing excessive tyre wear.
Being someone who has, very unfortunately (while trying to save myself some effort enabling the cctv system at our stupidly designed office) curbed my alloy by turning it into a curb with the effortless power steering I for one am not particularly keen on this idea. Then again I also dont park in gear. I know they're both well intended but old habits die hard. I really would expect the handbrake to hold my 20k car wherever I leave it.

Yes the handbrake is an important part of the cars safety equipment and should indeed hold the car, the gearbox is not designed or intended to be used as a handbrake failsafe.

[Topcat]

I would say to anyone who has a civic and it has rolled away causing damage they should definately follow this up. Start by calling Trading Standards they will give you the number to call to lodge a complaint against Honda and then take it from there.

In reality how many cars do you see parked on a road with a slope, with their wheels turned into kerbs? I looked today whilst out and I actually didnt see any!!

I know people are divided about leaving the car in gear but again how many people actually do this? I dont know anyone that does it (this forum excluded) and in 24 years of owning a car I have never done it until now as it has never been an issue.

Wasnt there a case on watchdog about another make of car with a similar problem, you didnt hear Watchdog saying it was the owners fault for not leaving their cars in gear they fought their case for them!!