Do you use your parking brake?

I recently saw an article discussing what people do inadvertently to destroy their cars, and the number one reason was not using a parking brake. Here's what it had to say:

It’s a little pedal near your left leg, or a lever on your right. Yes, that mysterious device that you’ve never used is actually valuable. When you park on an incline, or even on fairly steady ground, without using the parking brake, you’re putting all of the stress of the car on your transmission. The only thing inside that transmission holding your car steady is a little pin called a parking pawl. By using the parking brake, you lock up the non-drive wheels as well as the drive wheels and take the stress off of the transmission. It’ll add years of life to your cars transmission. Just remember to disengage it before you start driving again.

Well, after reading this, I merely shrugged it off, because frankly, I live on the plains of the Midwest, where hills are seen as scary and we only really ever get to park or come to a stop on them on roller coasters here :) Still, I really can't say that exclusively because coming to mind almost instantly are those driveways that are at a pretty decent incline that I guess I just never really think about--but I will now.

Am I the only one who just doesn't really think of using their parking brake? I mean, honestly, this has to be the cleanest part of my interior because it may have been used 2 or 3 times total. I feel like a doof, but I guess that's what this article really was implying! :(

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Do you use your parking brake?

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