[oilburner]

About 30mph? Don't think the handbrake would hold any better than the foot brake?

I take your point though, it is blinding and that's why I put mine into N when stopped for more than a few seconds (or expect to be, light just changed to red, etc). But it's such a pain in some cars (SWMBOs Zafira and the newer Volvos are like this) where you have to press the footbrake to release from N to D. In which case you just cause confusion by applying your brakes immediately prior to setting off again..

When you're in slow moving traffic (stopping and starting every few seconds), that doesn't really work very well. Us auto drivers might be guilty of this more than most, but I see plenty of people driving manuals who never use the handbrake, not sure what their excuse is!!