Explain this sentence

[MattHarr]

Yes Jody, I would myself use the handbrake and keep it in gear on the flat or a hill, you don’t have to keep it in gear if you don’t want to but it’s just another safety precaution incase the handbrake fails, I will see you tomorrow at 9am in the car park.

I am looking for help with the structure of the above sentence. Is the suggestion of using the handbrake and keeping it in gear separate to the ‘you don’t have to’ statement or is the ‘you don’t have to’ related only to the or a hill statement. Does the you don’t have to statement apply to the whole of the ‘I would myself use the handbrake and keep it in gear on the flat or a hill‘ or just the ‘or a hill’ part’.

[jonathanrace]

Use the commas to break it up.

1. I would use the handbrake
2. You don't have to keep it in gear but it's another precaution

If they had just said "you don't have to but..." then it would have applied to everything before it. However... they included something after "keep it in gear" so it refers to that.

[MattHarr]

Thanks for your reply. So, the ‘You don’t have to’ seems to apply to the previous sentence advising to use the handbrake to keep it in gear on both the flat and a hill, or does the ‘You don’t have to’ only apply to the ‘or a hill’ part?

[jonathanrace]

"you don't have to" only applies to keeping it in gear. It is not talking about the "or a hill" part.