On 9 Jan 2005 22:52:44 -0800, catcherintherye6@hotmail.com wrote:

>I feel like killing myself right now. Bought a new CR-V recently and
>drove about 2 miles with parking brake on...at night...didn't even see
>the "park" light on!! Now, the car feels different while accelerating
>(though it could just be psychological). Any body knows what goes wrong
>in the car in such a situation? Hate to go to the dealer with this
>story and ask him to get my car checked :-(

Worst case: It is possible that you overheated and warped one or both
of the rear disks. That is about the only really bad thing that could
have happened other than the excessive pad wear mentioned by the other
poster. You could probably feel any warpage in the brake pedal (slight
pulsing) or when you applied the brakes. Drive slowly, apply the
brakes gently, and see if the car stops smoothly or if it seems to
slightly lurch.

Even if they are warped, any competent repair shop can turn them and
put on new pads. That is relatively inexpensive. It will be more
expensive to replace the rotors, but not that much.

All of this is worst case. Probably you did no measurable harm at all.
I drive down a long hill at least twice a week, and pretty much have
to apply the brakes all the way. That is the equivalent of what you
did.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor