Battle of the Transmissions: M/T vs. A/T

[oj88]

For AT, when stopping for long periods of time, do you:

1 set to neutral and handbrake
2 or leave it at D and handbrake

Common answer from other folks is (1) but there's a youtube video from Engineering Explained saying that the shifting action from D-N causes wear on a more expensive part to fix than the wear when leaving it at D. (Well this is my understanding from the vid)

Well, you have to define what "long" is. I do a little of both and the third option, which is to firmly step on the brakes while in D.

Whichever option I choose depends on a number of factors. For short waits of less than a minute, I leave it in D with my foot on the brake pedal. If I need to remove my eyes from the road to fix/do something, I put it in N and apply the handbrake.

There are situations when you will have to sacrifice a little wear and tear for the sake of safety. For example, it gets tiring to keep your foot on the brakes on long traffic stops of more than 90 seconds. If you just happen to lose awareness or become distracted, you might unintentionally release it and end up rear-ending somebody. Applying the hand brake while in D is also not a best practice as you might be tempted to step on the gas for any number of reason (ie. Increase the A/C cooling or you just want to rev up the engine). That could overpower your handbrake and also send you rear-ending the poor sap in front.

The best option for long waits (90+ seconds, in my case) is to put in N and apply the handbrake. But even on shorter stops, if you need to reach for something behind you or under the seat with your eyes no longer on the road, just put it in N+handbrake and nothing you do short of accidentally pulling the shifter into D, would move the vehicle in any direction.