How to securely park on a hill.

How can you securely park on a hill and prevent your car from rolling away if the handbrake / parking brake fails?

When parking on an uphill / downhill should you leave the front wheels turned away from the kerb or towards it and should you leave it in gear? All these questions answered below.

Parked uphill.

Before switching off the engine you should leave the wheels turned away from the kerb to the right. That way if the car does rolls back then the kerb will hopefully stop the car.

If there isn't a kerb then leave the front wheels pointing to the left. If the car does roll back at least it won't roll out across the road.

If you're driving a manual car then you can also leave the car in first gear. It might move slightly at first but the engine should stop the wheels turning.

If you're driving an automatic then make sure the parking brake is properly applied and use the selector setting P.

Before starting the car again make sure you press the clutch and select neutral. Press the footbrake too if you think the car might roll.

Parked downhill.

Once you've parked facing downhill, before switching off the engine, turn the steering wheel to the left and have the front wheels pointing towards the kerb. If the car rolls forward then hopefully the kerb should stop it.

With the engine switched off, leaving it in reverse gear should also stop the car.

Before starting the car again make sure you press the clutch and select neutral. Press the footbrake too if you think the car might roll.