Mini Coopers don't have handbrakes
A few days ago my bus had come to a stop a few cars back doing up a hill. Rights were red. As I was staring out the window at the lane beside us I was watching a lady in a Mini Cooper. She was waiting in traffic tapping away on a phone and shuffling back and forward. If you drive a manual car, you can guess why. She was trying to hold the car still by balancing the clutch and accelerator, but doing a bad job of it. She'd realize the car had started to roll, and moved up a bit to try again. She was shuffling a few meters each time, and did this about 10 times.
When I got all those driving lessons, the guy taught me how do do this, how to hold a car still with clutch and accelerator. Also how to take off on a slope using a handbrake. Various car on slope related tasks. Depending on the situation, maybe one would apply the handbrake, maybe they would hold the car with the pedals. There are a few approaches to take to ensure that you don't roll back into another car.
Now, if you can hold your car on a slope fine with just the pedals, off you go. Many can, I'm sure many do. But if you find yourself rolling back and forth unable to keep the thing still, why not just put on the handbrake. Give your feet a rest. She was just making work for herself.
And for some reason sitting here watching her unable to do this simple task, stop your car on a hill just really bugged me.
Of course, it's possible Mini Coopers don't come with handbrakes and she was doing the best she could.
