In ,
:Jerry: typed, for some strange, unexplained
reason:
: "Mortimer" wrote in message
: et...
: snip
:
: I'm always wary about parking with the car in gear except on a steep
: hill when I always choose first if I'm parked uphill and reverse if
: I'm parked downhill, because more than once when someone else has
: driven my car and left it in gear I've operated the starter without
: checking that the car is in neutral and the car has lurched
: forwards - hence the use of a gear that will always try to take the
: car uphill rather than downhill.
:
: First rule taught to all in the motor trade, ALWAYS depress the clutch
: (or put the left foot on the brake if the vehicle is an automatic)
: BEFORE operating the starter, a sloppy / mal-adjusted gear leaver can
: give the 'appearance' of being in neutral (or park) but not actually
: being so.
:
: I've seen cars get driven off workshop ramps when someone has
: forgotten such a basic safety procedure, not a problem when the ramp
: is down, something altogether different when it's 6ft up in the air...
: :~o

It's not difficult to incorporate a link between the gear selector and the
starter such that the latter cannot be operated if the transmission is not
in neutral. All the buses I've ever driven have such a system. So does my
motorcycle.

Ivor