Left Foot Braking? WTF?

[Stefan]

Listening to a bit of Talk back radio on the way home today and the topic of using your right foot to accelerate and your lest foot to brake came up. To my surprise plenty of people, even a few advanced driving instructors, admitted to driving in this manner in daily suburban / city driving.

My opinion is it is a recipe for disaster that I would class as neg driving and wouldn't surprise if this has resulted in accidents.

Yes on the track, especially in rallying, it is a must and done by pros, but ma and pa kettle have no reason to drive like this.

Thoughts?

Do you drive in traffic with both feet in an Auto?

[In Focus]

Not my method, but there are a lot of people who swear by it, reckon they can get on the brake more quickly and are less likely to hit the wrong pedal in an emergency.

[XRGhia]

I do it just because its easier with my big steel toe shoes on after work.

[ryeman]

Have been a left foot braker for the last 30 years, no manual adaptation issues.
If you haven't taught yourself, you don't know what your missing.
But then again I always heal n toe in a manual to preserve the synchro's.
Brock/Murchott school start their lessons with LFB.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Listening to a bit of Talk back radio on the way home today and the topic of using your right foot to accelerate and your lest foot to brake came up. To my surprise plenty of people, even a few advanced driving instructors, admitted to driving in this manner in daily suburban / city driving.

My opinion is it is a recipe for disaster that I would class as neg driving and wouldn't surprise if this has resulted in accidents.

Yes on the track, especially in rallying, it is a must and done by pros, but ma and pa kettle have no reason to drive like this.

Thoughts?

Do you drive in traffic with both feet in an Auto?

If can be done on track it can be done on road...all down to coordination.

What's the problem can't you do it?

[Landau Stable]

I sure do Stefan. My reaction time is always a lot quicker, and there have been a couple close calls that have saved me over the years. My old bangers don't slow down as quickly as a modern car, so not only do i keep an increased stopping distance, i use both feet with an auto. Once on the open road i gpo to the right foot only. This also benefits when using an auto and car trailer, where my trailer is activated by the brake light switch. Very handy when i need some acceleration and trailer braking to straighten out.

[new2ford]

This has been discussed before on this forum and yes I use left foot braking in an auto and no I don't ride the brake and no I haven't had an accident in 40 years let alone a disaster and no I'm not negligent and yes I believe reaction time is fractionally better with left foot otherwise racing drivers wouldn't do it but accept that there are contrary viewpoints and each to their own and no I have no trouble whatsoever changing to driving a manual with right foot braking and then back to an auto and back again and back again so I have a foot in both camps.

[Ben73]

Ive tried it a few times, almost put myself through the front windscreen.

Maybe this is why I see some cars take off from the lights then watch the brake lights come back on as they accelerate.

[rayner22]

The first thing I learned to "drive" was a race kart. So left footing is just natural to me. Quicker reaction time and helps with brake/throttle management if you do ever get in trouble in the wet etc.

Only time I have ever right foot braked was during my "p plate test lol.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Ive tried it a few times, almost put myself through the front windscreen.

Maybe this is why I see some cars take off from the lights then watch the brake lights come back on as they accelerate.

me too...

[big_landau]

i left foot brake all the time,i even use both pedals at the same time.the hard part is getting a good reaction time

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Ive tried it a few times, almost put myself through the front windscreen.

Yep... when you are starting off you slam it down like a clutch and thats what happens.

[gtxb67]

if you cannot left foot the brake you should not be on the road
we all learnt right foot braking at some time, so unless our left foot is dumber than the right, it should be easily achievable

i first started doing it around 20 years ago, when after putting a nice little hole in #1 cylinder in the coupe, it was running on 5 1/4 cylinders
with no choke, when cold i needed to left foot the brake, while gently keeping some accelerator
it is so simple and it works
i can keep my left foot over the brake pedal, which seems to me that i should be able to brake quicker that way, than if i had to release the accelerator and then move the right foot over to the brake

even in manuals i can and do left foot the brake - my left and right foot are equal
it ain't that hard - driving isn't about having the biggest balls, it is all about using your head

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Yep... when you are starting off you slam it down like a clutch and thats what happens.

i never had that problem - maybe because i first used the left foot straight after my first time in a kart, but seriously if a driver can confuse the brake and the clutch . . . . .

[ryeman]

One issue you need to keep in mind....if you are doing a quick U turn or right turn from stationary, you must not have brake lights still on ( fm trailing brake) cos the modern vehicle remains in 'idle' fuel delivery...can be v embarrassing!

[blackf6]

I left foot brake when ever I'm on a private road, and are commencing a static burnout. Otherwise no way right foot for accelerator and brake, left for clutch or footrest.

[STINKY NINJA]

Im a left foot braker in my auto,right in the manual.
It started with my xd x flow,cam was that big it used to want to stall at the lights so id left foot brake and bring the revs up a bit,now i just like it better than right foot braking,much quicker reaction time in emergency situations,im actually heaps smoother with my left foot now than the right, ive been doing it for about 14 years or so.
Ive had no issues at the drags getting my foot off the brake either,probably done 150 passes over the years using the left foot technique,have to do it that way if you want the reaction time prize money!
I dont know if its legal or not but i do it.

[Ben73]

I like to power brake on the school run.

[Rev28K]

Yep, I've done it on track at certain corners.*
Yup, the first time I did it I found it hard to modulate.
Yup, when I drive an auto I'll always try and do it.

It's not "natural" to me. Some guys swear by it. I can see it's benefits and for the last 5% I can see it being an advantage.

*I can also recall going nose to tail for lap after lap with someone over an afternoon at Calder. We were in very similar cars and had very similar skill levels. He's pull a 2-3m gap going over the hump called Mt Jane (I'd lift slightly - rebuilt engine and I didn't want it grenading again) and I'd pull up the 2-3m gap by braking later at turn 1 after the main straight.

He was a left foot braker, I was a right foot braker. But in this instance I could just outbrake him (very close margin).

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

driving isn't about having the biggest balls, it is all about using your head

Except in Australia and Italy lol

[Kryton]

Id love to see some of you guys operating a forklift!
What next for a thread topic.............

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

i never had that problem - maybe because i first used the left foot straight after my first time in a kart, but seriously if a driver can confuse the brake and the clutch . . . . .

It's more of a natural reflex than 'confusion'. Most manual drivers brake and go with the right foot and it's second nature to them that the left foot is clutch only. Press the brake with the left foot and you jam it down as you are used to doing that. Of course, if you are consiously thinking that it is a brake and it needs less force you will get it right.

Much the same as people putting on their wipers when switching between Euro and normal cars and wish to indicate.

Or people walking to the 'wrong' side of the car to get in when visiting or going to other countries that drive on the opposite side.

I have done both of those, as have visitors who go to the drivers door to be my passenger.

When I drove around a bit in Italy I was forever looking towards the top of the A pillar for the review mirror .. only because that's where you generally look if you were here. And boy does changing gears with your right hand feel unco!... Funny, my European friends who drive here do the same things and say the same things.

It's just instinct, not confusion... Of course if you have been trained to use both feet like in carting or motorsport it will be instinct for you as well.

[blackf6]

There are manual forklifts too, and I like to right foot brake in this instance. Left foot in an auto fork.

[Silver Ghia]

Having the left foot hovering over the brake pedal in potential emergency situations should be compulsory learning when learning to get a licence.

I always thought that the right foot only should be used for braking, however after the following thread I learned the above technique, which I subsequently adopted when driving automatics.
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=61097

I think many situations where the driver (especially older drivers) panics when thinking their foot is on the brake but is actually on the accelerator, sometimes running over pedestrians or even their spouse, and sometimes with fatal results, could have been avoided if they only knew how to use the left foot on the brake pedal.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

It's more of a natural reflex than 'confusion'. Most manual drivers brake and go with the right foot and it's second nature to them that the left foot is clutch only. Press the brake with the left foot and you jam it down as you are used to doing that. Of course, if you are consiously thinking that it is a brake and it needs less force you will get it right.

Much the same as people putting on their wipers when switching between Euro and normal cars and wish to indicate.

Or people walking to the 'wrong' side of the car to get in when visiting or going to other countries that drive on the opposite side.

I have done both of those, as have visitors who go to the drivers door to be my passenger.

When I drove around a bit in Italy I was forever looking towards the top of the A pillar for the review mirror .. only because that's where you generally look if you were here. And boy does changing gears with your right hand feel unco!... Funny, my European friends who drive here do the same things and say the same things.

It's just instinct, not confusion... Of course if you have been trained to use both feet like in carting or motorsport it will be instinct for you as well.

i get what you are saying, but when i started doing it (after just 10 minutes in a kart), i made sure my first few attempts were done in a controlled and safe manner
i made sure that by the time i was left footing from 100kph in peak hour traffic that i knew what i was doing
for sure if someone just tries it out while braking normally then they are likely to go through the windscreen, but i for one made sure i practised first when it was safe
it isn't much different to right footing the brake for the first time
no one just jumps on the brakes with the right foot in peak hour traffic without first doing some practise stops at slower speeds either

[Psi-Pop]

Ill drive most autos with one foot but my ED with both. There is something strange that happens though, I discovered if i push both feet at once quite firmly that lots of noise, vibrations and smoke happens without that much speed being added. Pretty nifty.

[robbyj]

The first time i jumped in a car i was left foot braking (thought it was normal), dad taught me not to (this was in an auto). Your all talking reaction times... honestly if the difference from slamming your left foot on the brake to your right foot on the brake can save you from an accident, ill eat my cat. milliseconds difference.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by new2ford

Except in Australia and Italy lol

Yeah, people driving there that aren't used to it certainly need pallone di ferro to keep up ;)

[ryeman]

Driving through a shopping centre.....it's the difference between killing that escaping child running out from between parked cars and at the worst a bump!
That's all!

[2011G6E]

Most people are "footed" the same way they're "handed". Usually, it's your right foot that is more sensitive and has better "feel" than your left. I know if I try and use my left foot in normal traffic in an auto, I have nowhere near the gentle touch on the brake that I can with the right.

That's the problem too. The milliseconds you might pick up in an emergency are probably outweighed by your brain having to worry about what two feet are doing at once instead of just one foot (in an auto), and you willvery likely keep some power on as you are concentrating on getting your left foot down on the brake while your right is still on the gas.