We lived in Hastings in my teenage years and I took my test there. We were always taught to leave the vehicle in gear when parked. Hastings is very hilly and there were plenty of incidences of handbrake “failure”.
This was usually put down to human error and/or hot brakes when parking, cooling down so that friction becomes impaired and the handbrake then slips just enough to allow gravity to move the car down the slope.
The cars would often simply creep down the hill as the handbrake was applied but it’s efficiency had fallen off as it cooled down.
Given the issues with our cars handbrakes I’m glad I always leave mine in gear - old habits die hard and starting the car with clutch fully depressed is normal for me.
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