# Steep Driveway



## LeakyHawaiiRoof (Oct 21, 2014)

I've seen steep driveways with horizontal grooves (perpendicular to the flow of the cars) cut out. I always assumed they were there to prevent cars from slipping down, but I don't know the first thing about driveway safety so don't listen to me. 

Perhaps if you posted up a picture of your driveway people here could give you better advice on low cost options. 

Also, exactly what types of safety features or injuries were you trying to prevent? Like prevent cars from slipping down, making it easier to walk, prevent cars from slipping over the edge, making it awesome for sledding in winter?


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## TheBobmanNH (Oct 23, 2012)

A picture would be helpful. Also, whatkind of climate are you in? Steep driveways are way more of an issue in snowy places


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## Kierz10 (Mar 4, 2015)

Grooves are a good idea😊 I think the main concern he has is the cars rolling down, we live in BC Canada so its actually really mild over here, no snow on the ground at all! I'd add a photo but I'm not sure how to on my phone.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

we groove highways to channel water & provide sound notifications to drivers,,, all you need do is set the parking brake & leave the car in gear/park,,, or the ebrake ( you must be more digitally attuned & younger as i have no idea what an ebrake is :huh: ) :laughing:

then again, no one has a hot water heater,,, IF the water were hot, you wouldn't need a water heater, capische ?

good luck - & no grooving !


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## concrete_joe (Oct 6, 2014)

@OP, a "safer" driveway? safer how? whats the concern?

is it asphalt or concrete?

how big/wide is the driveway? what slope is it?


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## landfillwizard (Feb 21, 2014)

Stadry,

Ebrake is old school = emergency brake!


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## funflyer (Dec 5, 2014)

Kierz10 said:


> Hi there,
> what options there are for people (on a budget) to make the driveway safer? My husband was thinking a speed bump...any other ideas put there????
> Thank you kindly!


A few very large rocks? Better shoes?

Like Joe asked, safer how?


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

There are a few things you can do to improve safety on a steep driveway. First off, there is likely to come a day when the driveway is icy. This is probably the most dangerous condition, and can happen even in BC.

So you want to have some deicing salt or salt/sand mixture in a close barrel near the driveway. Second, it is much safer to have a flat "landing zone" at the bottom and top of the driveway, even if that means you need to make the middle part of the driveway steeper. A good length for a landing zone is the length of a car, around 20 feet works well. This is good in an icy driveway situation, where you can park your car at the bottom of the driveway while you spread the deicer and melt off the ice.

A landing zone at the bottom is also good for allowing the car to come to a stop before entering the street at the bottom of the driveway. I rented a place in Ohio that had a steep driveway with no landing zone, always a little dicey coming down the hill when there was snow on the driveway, no landing zone to slow down on.

Since the driveway is in, you may need to regrade to get the landing zone, could be worth the money in safety.


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

It's also nice to have a big enough pad at the top to turn around, so when you back out of the garage you go over there, and then put it in forward and drive down. You could get used to backing down a steep drive, but for visitors or new-drivers they can be intimidating. It would also be much safer if the street you live on has traffic.


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## Kierz10 (Mar 4, 2015)

😊 Again the main concern was if for some reason the ebrake/emergency brake/parking brake failed. Apparently my husband found realitively cheap heavy duty bumps that can be drilled right into the cement driveway. This way when visitors come they can park the front wheel over and itll act the same way a log would to stop the vehicle from rolling down if the brake were to fail. We have a flat two car garage at the top of the driveway and a semi flat "landing zone" at the bottom near the sidewalk as we are literally right next to a cross walk. Our street is a fairly busy street. The other night my husband apologized for getting so worked up over it and says he now doesn't think its as bad as he originally thought😊. If need be he will get those bumps/humps he found. Good idea about the salt/sand mix Daniel 😊 Thanks again everyone for your comments! Much appreciated 😀


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## jogr (Jul 24, 2007)

IMO the bumps would be an aggravation and not provide any safety. If you can drive over the bumps going up then the car will roll back down over them.


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

When I park on a hill I always leave my steering cranked all the way one way or the other, considering which way it would roll back or foward in the off-chance that the emergency brake failed. When you remove the keys, the steering wheel locks in that position.

Emergency brakes are very simply designed to NOT rely on your vehicle's electrical or hydraulic systems. Most of them (?) still use simple steel cables that run under the vehicle and operate a mechanical stop on the wheels.

Don't rely on an automatic transmission 'park' setting in this situation. Using the emergency brake doesn't cause any wear, and it is good for it, it because in rare cases when an emergency brake fails it is usually because it froze up from lack of use.


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

We still haven't seen how much of a grade we're talking about, before recommending bumps and grooving of the concrete. Is it 5% or 25%? Both could be considered steep depending on perspective.

In gear with the parking brake set is the best thing, and the odds of both failing are slim to none. I use tire chalks, but I'm a truck driver, and equipment is sometimes suspect on trailers, older trucks, etc. And lets face it, the average truck driver is more vehicle savvy than the average motorist, so cars have more failsafes built into them. Moral of the story, don't worry about tire chalks.

If you get temperatures well below freezing in the winter, find a flat place to park and forget the parking brake. I worked for a tire shop for a while, and at least once a week we had someone with stuck brakes or snapped parking brake cables because of the ice.


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## concrete_joe (Oct 6, 2014)

Mort said:


> Is it 5% or 25%?


its 80% :laughing:, so a winch is needed.

do most locales restrict max driveway grade to 15%?


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

If not, they should. But in Seattle there are some streets that are 19-20%, so that wouldn't work.


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## funflyer (Dec 5, 2014)

I'd worry more about falling and rolling to the street before I'd worry about the car. Between the e-brake and the transmission pawl, your car is not going anywhere.


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