Many people never use their parking / emergency brakes, which can put
a great deal of pressure on the little parking pawl, a part of the
automatic transmission which holds all three to five thousand pounds of a
modern car, truck, or SUV.
One approach to the problem is using electrically operated, electronically controlled, automatic parking brakes (a control for one is shown below).
Electric parking brakes work automatically, so people who don’t normally use the parking brakes have no choice.
They also fix the problem of owners who don’t apply the brake enough
to actually stop the car from moving (especially with hand-operated
parking brakes, and any manually adjusted parking brakes that are
neglected by owners and dealers alike). This relieves pressure on the
parking pawl, and cuts the admittedly remote chance of the car moving on
a steep hill.
