True, but many people are used to the prominent hand brake on the right in Corollas/Civics/Yugos/etc., while the 4Runner's low-profile foot brake on the left can be easily missed if they hadn't seen this configuration before.
Same with me on the 2017 4Runner I just took delivery of. The confusing aspect is that there's an "N" (neutral) position for both levers.
Is damage possible when engaging 4WD low (L4) while in Park instead of Neutral? This is what I did accidentally. It seemed to work, or at least I didn't hear...
I do not use the parking brake, mainly because I will sometimes lend my car to friends and I hate hearing that awful squealing, grinding sound when they drive off, coming back to tell me that they're pressing the gas pedal down all the way and it isn't doing much.
That's excellent! New owner here as well...
Incidentally, I cannot start new threads anywhere, including here. One would expect that new members would be able to do so in the New Members forum?