Only 30% Of Handbrakes Aren’t Electric

We all know just how important the manual handbrake is not only to your driving experience, but to the population of the world. It’s a fact that a handbrake turn is the most efficient way to court a mate, so the removal of such a think would be detrimental.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what is happening. Car Gurus have done the hard work of conducting a survey on all new cars to see how many are being built with a physical parking brake. Not an electric switch that you simply pull up to engage, an old fashioned, ratchet type handbrake. The numbers aren’t promising, guys.

Only 37% of all new cars come with this feature last year, and with an updated report for this year, shows that it’s just dropped a further 7%.

Dacia and Suzuki still maintain their allegiance to a manual handbrake, but other marques like Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, Mercedes, and Audi have all gone for the sleek option: a switch. And that’s fine if you’re just driving a car to get somewhere faster than walking.

The switch is smaller, easier to use (although, seriously, it’s just pulling up a stick), and its use can be integrated into the auto ‘boxes to allow for smoother hill ascents. But we’re going to miss our random car park hand brake shenanigans.

It’s a bleak future, guys. Next thing they’ll be saying is they’re going to make cars autonomous or something!