2009 Dodge Journey Owner's Manual - Page 325

STARTING AND OPERATING 323 WARNING! • Driving through standing water limits your vehicle's traction capabilities. Do not exceed 5 mph (8 km/h) when driving through standing water. • Driving through standing water limits your vehicle's braking capabilities, which increases stopping distances. Therefore, after driving through standing water, drive slowly and lightly press on the brake pedal several times to dry the brakes. • Getting water inside your vehicle's engine can cause it to lock up and stall out, and leave you stranded. • Failure to follow these warnings may result in injuries that are serious or fatal to you, your passengers, and others around you. PARKING BRAKE The parking brake should always be applied when the driver is not in the vehicle. WARNING! Never use PARK position on an automatic transaxle as a substitute for the parking brake. Always apply parking brake fully when parked to guard against vehicle movement and possible injury or damage. When parking on a flat surface, place the shift lever in the PARK position first, and then apply the parking brake. When parking on a hill, it is important to apply the parking brake before placing the shift lever in PARK, otherwise the load on the transaxle locking mechanism may make it difficult to move the shift lever out of PARK. 5