"MissRiaElaine" wrote in message
...

Most modern cars will shut off the engine if sitting at lights, etc.
Although this does rely on the driver selecting neutral and putting the
handbrake on, and how many people do that..? No, they just sit there in
front of you with their foot on the brake giving you full brake light
intensity, lovely at night, I don't think grrrr...

Strangely, with the only start-stop implementation I've driven (Alfa Romeo)
the engine cut when the car was stopped with the footbrake. If you then
selected neutral and applied the handbrake the engine restarted when you
took your foot off the footbrake.

I decided to bypass start-stop altogether on my latest car by buying a full
hybrid, where the engine has stopped long before the car comes to a rest,
and the car can be moved for short distances in heavy traffic without
starting the engine at all. However, the parking brake on this car is
electric and is quite hard to apply manually - it is applied automatically
when you shift the transmission to Park. The car has a brake hold feature
which leaves the footbrake applied after coming to a stop. The brake
releases when you press the accelerator to move off. This works fairly well,
but it doeas keep the brake lights on while you're stopped.

--
DAS