Initech_vs_Initrode

Again, back in the Boomer era, the driver's license test required you to stop the vehicle using the emergency brake. It's called an emergency brake because that's the backup in case the hydraulic (or, before that, purely mechanical) braking system failed. Believe it or not, until relatively recently, people did not have complete faith in their automotive braking systems.

Your comment is just another myth that gets propagated among young people on sites like Reddit, like the one about how windshield wipers turn themselves on when they sense a wreck.

So, you made a long series of bad decisions and now you want to place the responsibility on me. That's not how the world works. Do better.

Ah yes, the old "I make decisions that endanger others and justify it by calling responsible people privileged" angle. Always a winner.

Yes, that's why it's called an emergency brake. In fact, licensing tests used to require that you demonstrate the ability to safely stop the vehicle using it. However, choosing to drive on public roads with only a functioning e-brake is absolutely reckless.

This is tangential, but I recently learned quite a bit about hospice care in Oregon. I was dating someone who worked in the industry. She said that private equity was buying up the industry, intending to bill Medicare for as much as possible. I asked why she and her hard-working co-workers didn't start up their own hospice. Don't quote me on the specifics, but 1) a new hospice here has to generate no profit for the first X years and 2) you have to have something like half a million in reserves in order to be allowed the license to start one.

The laws were well-intentioned, but they end up being a way for the wealthy to continue generating income on the backs of everyone else. If you have the industry knowledge and funding to start a hospice, you can do it, then sell it off to private equity after a few years. Rinse and repeat. The rich get richer and we all pay for it, largely via Medicare.

My man, driving on public roads with only your e-brake to stop is reckless. It endangers other road users. I don't care if this guy burns down his own car and subsequently catches his home on fire, all due to an electrical short, but it will suck if it goes up in flames in a parking lot and takes down some other innocent, poor person's car.

I was once a struggling, working student driving an older car. I did what I needed to do to keep it running. I didn't endanger others, however.

"My confirmation bias confirms that it worked out."

This is no different than writing, "the first ten Google results for Sonoma flasher are..." It's the most basic, non-contributing information that anyone would get with even cursory investigation. It's fake-work that doesn't contribute anything, but gives you the warm-and-fuzzies for "helping", while most likely muddying the waters with misinformation.

I would bypass the resistor and replace it with a PWM motor controller. Resistors waste energy via heat, and you likely don't want extra heat in the cab most of the time. As a bonus, you'll have fine speed adjustment instead of just high/medium/low.