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This brings to mind another anomaly regarding electronic handbrakes and stop-start batteries.
On most cars, and applied electronic handbrake will automatically release when the car starts to move (making the old 'hill start' skill that we all had to perfect for our driving tests another redundancy). On cars with automatic transmission, if the car is left in 'Drive' the handbrake will release as soon as the throttle is pressed. This can have potentially disastrous effects. Simply accidentally brushing the throttle pedal couls instantly set the car in motion. I also know of an MOT tester who had a trader bring in a big Jaguar for test, the trader drove the car into the workshop and the tester walked to the back of the car and inserted the emissions testing kit into the exhaust. The trader got out of the driving seat and the tester hopped in. On pressing the throttle for the first emissions test, the car shot down the workshop and across the ramp as the trader had left the car in Drive, but with the electronic handbrake on! Luckily the only damage was to the car...
With the later stop-start battery technology, generally the system will stop the engine when the car is stationary and the footbrake is applied. Engaging the parking brake an releasing the brake pedal will then cause the engine to start again. This could be another reason why so many people appear to be holding their cars on the footbrake!
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