Detect current in car handbrake circuit Using Arduino, how can I detect that the switch is on? I have access to the wire within the red rectangle only. That's because the switch is closely connected to the car body (ground). When the handbrake is up, the switch is pushed by a coil to touch car body and close the circuit. And when the handbrake is down, the switch go away from the car body and the circuit is open.
If you truly only have access to the red rectangle content, and not the Ground or +12V supply, you could use an opto-isolator, assuming you can use enough of the wire in the red rectangle to be able to form a voltage divider to get at least 1-2 mA through the input side of the opto.