Parking brake as Emergency Brake

[jlamb30]

When the electronic parking brake is engaged at speed like in the video, the regular brakes are used to stop the car ASAP and then the parking brake is engaged.

So if all hydraulic pressure is lost, activating the parking brake at speed won't work since the main brakes wouldn't work anyway.

Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't the EPB independent of the hydraulic system, since it is electric motor and gear driven to move the piston?

Honda's documentation states to pull up and hold the EPB switch for emergency braking.

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[LoneWolf77]

The parking brake is not run by hydraulics like your regular brake. Each rear tire has a small electric motor that activates the brake. The parking brake can engage while the car is moving, I tried it myself in an empty parking lot to see what would happen. Pretty anti climatic really. Just slowed the car down to a stop. Rear end didnt fishtail or anything. Pretty sure it applied the front brakes a little too.

 

[yansag1982]

In my older civic(LX 2016 coupe) I use to pull on it sometimes just for fun....it's ok It brakes pretty hard and with a different abs ''patern'' in that it sounds different.

 

[FC3L15B7]

Does anyone know if the parking brake will act as an emergency brake at speed in the even of total hydraulic failure? It will stop the car at speed if the normal braking system is working. My guess is, no, it is tied into the hydraulic system.

As with any application of the park brake, the car is at the mercy of lock up the rear wheels. In a straight line on dry road, I imagine it will stop abruptly, but not lock up.

Having said that, my 2nd service rated the rear pads at 70% and the fronts 90%, so I think they're working quite a bit, but just small.

You should only ever experience total brake failure in the event the booster gives out or something that affects the brake system as a whole. You only ever lose braking capacity to diagonal-opposing wheels in the event of a line leak.

I've driven a couple cars without brakes before. Well, a car and van. My car had a leak and just used the brakes until it ran out of fluid (I knew it was leaking) and I just geared down to get home. The van - same thing basically - except it was the brake booster. I just use the throttle and gears to manage its speed, even coming to a near-complete stop at traffic lights after getting off the highway.

If you lost your brakes, in any event, you should throttle and gear down as much as possible, whenever possible, before choosing to engage the park brake.

 

[fenix-silver]

The owner's manual states that if you pull the EPB while in motion, all of the brakes will be engaged at full pressure until the car comes to a complete stop at which point the parking brake will get engaged.

 

[FC3L15B7]

The owner's manual states that if you pull the EPB while in motion, all of the brakes will be engaged at full pressure until the car comes to a complete stop at which point the parking brake will get engaged.

The scenario is if they lost hydraulic braking, so under normal conditions, it would apply the all the brakes, but if you didn't have those brakes, I would hope the park brake engages. If not, it's useless as an emergency brake.

 

[fenix-silver]

The scenario is if they lost hydraulic braking, so under normal conditions, it would apply the all the brakes, but if you didn't have those brakes, I would hope the park brake engages. If not, it's useless as an emergency brake.

Correct, should have clarified that I was responding to some earlier comments that seemed to have some confusion about the system. Honestly not sure what would happen in the event of total hydraulic failure. If the EPB typically only engages when the car is at a stop, not sure what it would do I that scenario. Anyone want to be the guinea pig?

 

[Romeoridgee]

Hopefully I never need to use it but it is good to know that I can use Parking brake as Emergency Brake. My 16 year old just got a learner permit and while I am sitting next as a passenger I always wondered if I can use that if my kid makes a mistake

Can cause an accident doing that... and frustration to a driver if they could of avoided it...

 

[Romeoridgee]

Will holding the parking brake switch lock up the rears?

 

[tacthecat]

Read your owner's manual "If you pull up and hold the electric parking brake switch while driving, the brakes on all four wheels are applied by the VSA system until the vehicle come to a stop. The electric parking brake then applies, and the switch should be released." Also the manual says ABS operates independently and disengages below about 6 mph.

 

[Benster]

I tried it on the snow and as soon as the rear brakes start to apply, the whole abs will engage. To answer the primary question, I believe it would work if a total hydraulic failure were to happen as the electronic part of it physically pushes the piston of the caliper to lock it. But as others said, in order to get a total failure you'd need to snap 2 brake lines, highly unlikely and at that point, the car is either a piece of garbage or you're already in the ditch.

 

[RMR]

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/what-happens-if-you-pull-your-parking-brake-when-driving-fast/

 

[tacthecat]

Interesting but not quite true for the newer Civics
Doesn't go into detail but video is pretty impressive.
Can you pull an electronic e-brake in motion? - 2016 Honda Civic - YouTube

 

[NonyaBisness]

If your hydraulic brakes totally failed with no warning, you could use the hand brake to apply some parking brake force to stop the car, theoretically.

On older cars pulling the parking brake at speed would absolutely send you into a skid, I used to live in the middle of nowhere off a side road where I rarely ever saw another car while on that road and I tried that once in one of my old Honda's, ended up stopping in the middle of the road pointing 90* perpendicular to the path of travel.

the electronically controlled ones I think are more like a solenoid activating the rear calipers so it applies more slowly

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