When driving a stick shift if you know you are going to brake is it illegal to place the car on neutral to brake or must you brake while on the gear with the clutch until you are at a complete stop?

Answer 1

When driving a standard transmission, stick shift, clutch sort of car one must drive differently than in an automatic. When you need to slow down it is better to downshift and coast rather than leaving the car in gear and braking because eventually you'll need to downshift anyway. You should plan ahead and know when you'll need to stop. If you place the car in neutral before stopping the brakes will be the only things stopping the car. This will wear out your brakes much quicker than necessary. It is better to downshift, and once in a low gear depress the clutch and the brake together in order to come to a complete stop. Once at a complete stop, and as long as you're not on an incline, put the car in neutral, let off the clutch and keep your foot on the brake. When traffic is about to move, depress the clutch, put it in gear, let off the brake and press on the gas in order to begin again. If you are stopped on an incline, sort of going up hill, and in a good amount of traffic with cars behind you and ahead of you; when you come to a stop it is better to leave the car in its lowest gear, maintain an equilibrium with the clutch and your gas pedal to keep the car at a stand still. This will prevent you from rolling backwards once you begin again. If you need to start from a stand still, on an incline, in neutral the possibility of rolling backwards or stalling is very great. This is an instance where the parking brake, the clutch and being in gear all have to work in concert. You apply the parking break, which is always a hand break on standard transmission cars, to prevent yourself from rolling backwards. Keep your thumb depressed on the button that locks the hand brake so you have an easy free moving control of the brake. You then put the car in its lowest gear, apply the clutch until you feel the transmission engage. Slowly let out on the clutch until you feel the car trying to move forward and then gradually let off the parking brake. This will prevent you from rolling backwards and possibly stalling the car while starting on an incline. Starting a stick shift, clutch, standard transmission car from a dead stop on a significant incline is not an easy task for a beginner. Practice it.