quick survey on auto driving method... one foot or two?

by Gregor 36 Replies latest jw friends

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  undercover

  Can anybody explain just why the left foot braking is such a bad habit? Or, is it perhaps just urban car legend?

  Personally I think it's a carryover from driving manual transmissions before automatics existed. Then you used the left foot for changing gears and the right foot for braking/accelerating. As auto trannys became popular they still taught how to drive manual but if you ended up in an automatic, then all you did was drop the use of the left foot.

  I don't think there's anything wrong with using the left foot for the brake as long as you do it properly. I've done it on a performance track.

  In fact...if all one drove was an automatic maybe (and I just had this realization and haven't thought it completely through yet) just maybe it would eliminate the 'wrong pedal syndrome'. We've all heard the stories of someone slamming their brakes and the car sped up but after the investigation it was actually driver error when they slammed the accelerator thinking they were hitting the brakes. There was another Prious sudden accleration the other day that was deteremined to be driver error in this very manner.
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  JWoods

  In fact...if all one drove was an automatic maybe (and I just had this realization and haven't thought it completely through yet) just maybe it would eliminate the 'wrong pedal syndrome'. We've all heard the stories of someone slamming their brakes and the car sped up but after the investigation it was actually driver error when they slammed the accelerator thinking they were hitting the brakes. There was another Prious sudden accleration the other day that was deteremined to be driver error in this very manner.

  Quite true...as were all the AUDI automatic sudden acceleration stories back in the early 80s. Drivers thought they were on the brakes and pushed the gas.

  One Ferrari owner reminded me that Sammy Hagar had a song where "One foot on the brake, one foot on the gas" and told me to carry on. Which I will.

  I have been left foot braking autos so long now it would probably mess me up to change in my old age.
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  Gregor

  Driving a manual on the steep streets of downtown San Francisco (remember Bullitt?) requires some extra coordination when you have had to stop facing uphill, either at a stop sign or waiting to make a left turn. It really helps if your emergency brake is in the center console.

  I once was behind a young lady who kept stalling when she tried to jump the clutch and not roll back into me. I could see she was at her wits end so I set my brake and walked up to her window. She was in tears. Fortunately, she had a center hand brake. I showed her how to use it by holding the release button down with her thumb. She made it on the first try. I was a hero!
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  mrsjones5

  Bravo Gregor! You are a hero. Driving the hills of San Francisco with a stick is no joke. Especially at certain stop light on Nob Hill.
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  ILTSF

  I've always driven automatic, and always driven with my right foot only...I've never even seen anyone drive with two feet.
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  Lady Lee

  My father was a two-footer. I always got car sick because he was always back and forth with the pedals. I still get car siuck when a driver is using both feet. In my experience two-footers are one of the worst drivers on the road. If you are behind them you can never guess what they are going to do.

  I learned to drive on a manual - with one foot. And went on to the auto using one foot.
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  JWoods

  In my experience two-footers are one of the worst drivers on the road. If you are behind them you can never guess what they are going to do.

  That sounds more like just plain bad driver than left foot brake driver to me. As noted above, no excuses for dragging brakes or braking intermittently.

  For what it is worth, over the weekend on the Ferrari forum, I have about 20+ replies. NOBODY was totally against LFB on the road (some said to use whatever you were most comfortable with). At least 4 experienced racers stated that they use it on the track. One repeated what Undercover said about unintended acceleration being reduced with LFB. Universal agreement about not dragging brakes, etc. - and, that it does reduce brake reaction time.

  Several said they use it on the road in automatic cars as well.