Yes Jody, I would myself use the handbrake and keep it in gear on the flat or a hill, you don’t have to keep it in gear if you don’t want to but it’s just another safety precaution incase the handbrake fails, I will see you tomorrow at 9am in the car park.
I am looking for help with the structure of the above sentence. Is the suggestion of using the handbrake and keeping it in gear separate to the ‘you don’t have to’ statement or is the ‘you don’t have to’ related only to the or a hill statement. Does the you don’t have to statement apply to the whole of the ‘I would myself use the handbrake and keep it in gear on the flat or a hill‘ or just the ‘or a hill’ part’.
Not sure what the source is for this, but it seems like a run on sentence that should be split into three:
Yes Jody, I would myself use the handbrake and keep it in gear on the flat or a hill,.
You don’t have to keep it in gear if you don’t want to but it’s just another safety precaution incase the handbrake fails.
I will see you tomorrow at 9am in the car park.
Hope this helps.
" it’s just another safety precaution incase the handbrake fails,"
incase or in case?
Probably “in case” as I don’t think “incase” is a word. There is the word “encase.”
The person (I’ll say he) is saying that when he parks the car, he would both use the parking brake and keep the car in gear (normally first gear) as a double precaution, in case the parking brake fails. This is standard procedure for a car with a manual transmission, especially when parking on an incline, because otherwise the car might roll downhill. But he is saying that he would follow the procedure, whether he is parking on an incline or on level ground. He is giving the advice that when parking a manual transmission vehicle, whether it’s on a hill or on level ground, you don’t have to keep the car in gear — you may just use the parking brake — but that keeping the car in gear, in addition to using the parking brake, is an added safety precaution.
Yes Jody, I myself would use the handbrake and keep it in gear, whether on the flat or on a hill. You don’t have to keep it in gear if you don’t want to. But it’s just another safety precaution, just in case the handbrake fails.
Hope this answers your question.
P.S. This is a big deal because when leaving a car in gear, especially on a flat surface or when facing downhill, the car may lurch forward when you start it up again, if you forget to press down on the clutch. Which means you could accidentally hit someone or something, like another car, that is positioned in front of your car. You could even accidentally crush someone between your car and the car in front of you. Forgetting about the clutch is very easy to do when starting up a manual transmission automobile. So you have to make a very conscious effort if you leave the car in gear, that you always remember to push down on the clutch when you start up the car. Easier said than done!