Pulling the C7’s Parking Brake Switch While Driving

Would It Lock Up Your Rear Axles? Would It Do Nothing at All? Admit It, You’ve Always Wondered What Would Happen If You Pulled the Parking Brake Switch While Driving

Gone are the days when you needed an emergency brake on your car. Braking technology has been so reliable over the years that most cars now simply come with a parking brake. Most modern automatics actually engage that brake when you put the car into “P.” Buttons save space, but do these parking brakes still behave like a traditional hand brake? There’s only one way to find out.

Driving at 30 miles per hour while pulling an e-brake would lock up the back tires and cause a bit of a smoke show. For a parking brake, this is not at all the case. Slow speed runs are first practiced in the C7 in the video below, with the only result being a casual reduction in speed. Attempts from higher speeds show exactly the same results: you just simply slow down.

So there you have it. The theatrics of a hand-operated emergency brake are sadly gone. But removing the emergency brake should give you some reassurance in your steel and cast-iron brake rotors.

CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About the Parking Brake Switch

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