You left foot braker?
 

When I do drive an auto, its much smoother with less time delay at
stoplights/signs. I know for many of you, an auto trans. is all you know.

I first tried it after reading an advanced driving book with several
overall tips.

It was at least 5 years after I first started driving, when this happened.
Certainly in 1971, the drivers ed teachers never mentioned this as a
possibility.

I was wondering how far down your driving experience, that you first tried it?


I know it was awkward at first, like trying to throw a baseball with your
off hand.

It took a while to stick! When you learn right foot first, I've found that
in a critical emergency split second manuever, that I reverted back to
the right foot.

Is anybody teaching left foot to yet unlicensed drivers now?

Do you think its better to bed them in with right foot first, as to keep
confusion down?

If to be learned LATER: how much later????

Of course some vehicles have limited space, the base of some steering
columns make it awkward for people with large feet/boots etc...
to do this gracefully.

Would appreciate your thoughts!

My braking is pretty much planned, so no need. There is some performance to be had there, but you have to be very aggressive about speed, and not efficiency. You can see that in a clutch car the left foot gets used often on the pedal to set up the suspension for a turn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdWSyrqEnE4

I own both a manual car and an automatic DAF car from '74. Tried left foot braking one day when my right foot was slightly injured (brake pedal requiring a painful amount of force). After some adjustment and sqeeking tyres I never changed back to the right foot. In this car the brake pedal is installed a dangerous distance above the gas pedal. So left foot brake definiteley safer.
Here in NL if you do your drivers exam in an automatic, you're not allowed to drive a manual.

Sometimes when sitting at a light, I need to adjust something (scratch my foot, fix my shoe lace, etc.) and for whatever reason that requires using my left foot on the brake. Occasionally, I leave my left foot on the brake until the light goes green. It is the most awkward sensation to accelerate! It's weird how moving from brake to throttle and moving from floor to throttle can change how your "muscle memory" pushes down the pedal.

That is really interesting. I think everybody should do their exam in a big pickup/van with a manual. That way you should be able to drive just about anything, manual-auto, small-big.

I see no problem with this technique, when done correctly. That said i find it annoying if not dangerous to follow a two foot driver who can't lift up enough to allow the brake lights to turn off. Constant brake lights should be as illegal as no brake lights as it is just as unpredictable and dangerous

Braking with the left foot is OK in an automatic.

In a manual, I only use it to the light up the brake lights ... and any unhappy face hovering nearby, without actually slowing down .

Brake lights really catch people's attention when they're following really close ...

Been left foot braking autos for a very long time. Probably since the late 1960s and it has saved my bacon on several occasions. Once I started to turn right at an intersection, with a green light. I glanced to the left and saw a car coming at 45 MPH. He blew right through the light and locked them up just past the intersection. I had hit the brakes hard before I even got completely off the gas.

Another time was when some derelict pulled onto the Interstate in front of heavy traffic going 70 MPH. Combined with situational awareness, knowing there was a clear left lane and a stab of the left foot to slow down a little, I managed to avoid a real disaster and a multi car pile up which could have been deadly. The idiot just drove onto the highway at a 45 degree angle without accelerating in the service lane at all.

A couple more times it has given me a better chance when someone swerved over into my lane on a two lane road, with a ditch 2 feet from the roads edge.

The funny thing about the Fiesta. If you do not get your foot completely off the brake when you get ready to accelerate, the tranny computer does not shift properly and you get some jerking. I even disconnected the battery cable to reset the CPU, before I realized that it was my left foot touching the brake pedal.

Sometimes the difference between an accident and a close call is having your left foot ready for virtually instant braking instead of having to lift it off the gas pedal and applying the brake, with the possibility of getting your foot stuck under the brake pedal.

I know left foot braking is frowned upon by many, but for me it is an additional advantage. My reaction time is greatly reduced and it has helped me avoid serious injury on several occasions.

regards
Mech

Racing go-karts, you don't have a choice. Which also tends to translate well to racing full size race cars. As Old Mech said, you will have much better reaction times if you don't have to lift off the accelerator before pushing on the brake with the same foot.

If you aren't riding the brake lights, who cares. But as evidenced by mech, it is really easy to do since your foot is more in the air and wants to rest on something (like the gas pedal). Plus you don't want to drag the brakes (anti-efficiency)

So, like not going slow in the center lane, don't ride your brakes, you will look like a serious geezer if you are coasting slow AND your brake lights are flashing :)

I'm surprised at all the left foot braking going on here. I'm not surprised about all of it "out there" though; I'm always behind some dolt who's brake lights are on yet they aren't decelerating (why do I always see vehicles accelerating away from stop lights with their brake lights on?) I especially love the ones that have the brake lights come on at every curve on a curvy road... even if they aren't perceptively slowing at all. :rolleyes: Then I point my finger up in the air and say, "Another method of slowing down is to take your foot off the gas." But they never hear me.

Try driving constuction equipment with hydrostatic drive with a forward/revers pedal and no bracke pedal at all. Some types of fork lifts on hilly construction sites are lots of fun to, because to control speed going down hill you have to give it full throatle, because if you are off the throatle you are free wheeling and accelerating and no brake pedal!!!?

The old John Deeres with hand clutches had a brake pedal under each foot. And there are all manner of control set-ups on lawn and garden equipment.

here is a rally driver that spends a lot of time covering the brake once in the taller gears and uses his left foot a lot, even switches feet during braking at one point so he can get back on the gas sooner. Again, NOT economy style :) The second one is more intense

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28ijoZwpmbU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKeK_IpQP2s

... and you can see he's using the brake lever in the 2nd one too... amazing coordination considering how much is going on!!

I've done it in some very... odd circumstances, but generally no.

In an automatic.

In a manual car it's a pretty long way from the foot rest to the brake, passing the clutch pedal . ;)


Indoor Karts over here have an interlock so you can't brake and gas it at the same time.

If he pushes in the clutch, the whole pedal assembly (or at least the gas) goes down with it - why would that be :confused:

Or is it some tricky linking to keep the revs up on a race engine that may like to rev high, but also drops its rpm like a block of lead ?

I think if you think you need that extra 1/4 of a second of reaction time to get to the brake pedal out on the street, you are doing it wrong.

That is known as heel-toe technique, his heel is pressing on the gas to keep the revs up or match downshift rpm (and possibly the turbo spooled up) while his toe is on the brake.

I will say that I cover the brake a lot more in school zones, or if there seems to be a higher probability of someone coming out into traffic unexpectedly (i.e. drunk people by the bars and I'm stuck in the right lane). But I don't cover it as a rule of thumb, and since most of my miles are EOC I don't have to rely on my left foot to do it.

Yeah, I missed his foot angling towards the gas pedal.

I have always driven automatic transmission cars using my left foot on the brake pedal, at least most of the time. Yes, faster reaction time but also just less work, particularly in heavy, stop-start traffic.

I also occasionally do so in a manual transmission car, only very seldom while shifting gears though. While it is possible to shift without using the clutch and brake, I find it takes more concentration - for me at least - than I want to use on that. Much better to focus on hazard perception.

Simultaneously applying brake and gas pedal inputs can be used for car control/altering brake balance. The rally/race car drivers in the videos above may be doing that. It is most useful in FWD, slightly less so in 4WD, cars. Similar to pulling on the emergency brake (if it acts on the rear wheels - which most do).

I did half spin a few times while learning how to do it - and I still don't feel I do it particularly well.

I only use left foot braking when I play Grand Turismo. Basically, only when I'm racing.

I had a grandmother that would go through a set of brakes in less than a year because she always had her left foot on the brake and they were always dragging.

I don't see how it could substantially increase reaction time unless the foot was actually resting on the pedal, in which case it is generating braking force.

Isn't left foot braking how burnouts are done? I've never had a vehicle powerful enough to do one.

I tried it when I was still developing my driving style, and found I was accelerating too quickly. It is easy to control it, but when I was still fully learning the road, it just made me drive faster. More so an issue because of immaturity, nothing else.

Agreed on Gran Turismo (I love it, not so much the left foot braking).

I have little to add, but that not too long ago I was in a car and used my left foot to brake (always on a clutch, and I shift as fast as possible every time) and holy crap, I have never stopped a car so fast before lol

It hurt at the time (seat belt + aggressive jerk/immediate stop), but even then I was laughing out loud.

A typical urban/suburban speed might be around 18m/s. Even a fraction of a second might be the difference between avoiding a crash and being halfway into the car in front (say).

It does take time to release the gas pedal and shift that foot across to the brake pedal.

Yes :).

The power of the car matters less than the technique used. It is easier to break traction with a manual trans. - simply side step the clutch - but not impossible to do so even in low powered auto. trans. cars, especially if they are FWD.

The trick is to apply the brakes only enough to stall the TC up, then come off the brake pedal as the throttle goes down. Once traction is broken you can hold the car using the brakes.

If you really wanted to do it and have no (rather than very little) mechanical sympathy and deep pockets, rev in Neutral and select 'D' to get the wheels spinning.

With FWD you can simply use the emergency brake. Unfortunately many FWD vehicles will just drag the locked rear wheels.

(Yes, I had a misspent youth.)

The only problem I had was when initially manually selecting gear in an auto. trans. after driving manual. That led to a simultaneous stab on the brake pedal.

One does not need particularly quick reaction times if they are heads up and eyes out, and traveling at a speed appropriate for the environment.

I am reminded of something I saw perhaps 40 years ago- on 60 Minutes or in Popular Mechanics?- that tested drivers' reactions to a tethered barrel being shot out from roadside directly into their paths. Most drivers slammed on the brakes... and every single one of them hit the barrel. Some drivers swerved... and many of them did NOT hit the barrel.

I'm glad I saw that when I was young; it saved my bacon on at least one occasion, when a horse and young rider (the horse was the one in control :rolleyes: ) blasted up onto the road right in front of me in a VW Microbus. I was hard on the brakes AND swerved, somehow avoiding a collision and leaving lots of my nice expensive tires on the road. :mad: An observer to the whole thing said that was some mighty fine driving. I credit that Driver's Study with planting the seed in my head for always having a contingency plan.

I think if you drive with a foot hovering above the brake pedal, you are just going to slam on the brakes in the same way as when you are wielding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I was only able to spin my front tires in a car with really bad grip. Really bad. In my FRs, it's always been holding brake, then hitting gas and the rear brakes let loose, and they just spin. Also, a lot of waste in my youth.

Excellent point. Now is the most important time for that. Many people think the brakes when something happens ahead. Try it in the snow, or the slick, and one just slides forward. Turn, and one can easily avoid it if they are aware of their surroundings.

Take every possible advantage you can.

dragging brakes and pointlessly flashing brake lights are not an advantage.

If you do it (left foot brake) as a matter of course, it's no different i.e. no better or worse, than using just one foot, at least in that respect.

Except the fraction of a second that you may loose by not hovering your foot over the brake all the time is not how people crash cars. They crash by not seeing the situation, by not leaving them selves enough room, by over driving the conditions or by misapplying controls like hitting the gas and brake at the same time.

If you did not see something in time to use the brake with your right foot and stop in 5 seconds what makes you think you will have seen it in time to stop in 4.95 seconds with your left foot?

Drive the way you want, if you feel you need every possible advantage to stay safe by all means do so. For me if a fraction of a second made the difference I would reevaluate my driving and task management habits.

I disagree; the left foot braking habit leads to far too many instances of braking while going. I see it all the time. As a practical matter you cannot do that with right foot braking, because that foot is busy on the gas pedal.

I find it funny to have this discussion on an econo board where people are pulling their mirrors and antennae off to save .000001 of a horsepower while going down the road... all to have it completely negated and then some by dragging the brakes.

Sure... you don't do it. I think it is like pedalling a bicycle- proper pedalling technique is darn hard work, I practically have to remind myself with every revolution to lift up on that damned upward pedal or else I'm working against myself by lifting the dead weight of my upstroke leg with my power leg or worse yet, unconsciously pushing down on both. It's not an accusation against anyone or their skills personally; I just think such a habit is ripe for abuse.

If you feel you are incapable of knowing whether or not your left foot is on the brake pedal then don't use it. Don't assume that everybody else is likewise incapable.

Everyone else is incapable, took old mech a computer to tell him he was hitting the brake when he thought he wasn't. The brake pedal is high up and you naturally rest your foot on whatever pedal it is covering...

If you are going to do this, at a minimum I would install an in-dash brake light (led + resistor in parallel w/brake lights) so you know what is going on with your foot and can actually train it.

Constantly being on any sort of trigger isn't safe.

If you're that ready to slam on the brakes, you probably shouldn't be on the gas.

Zing! Wow, did everything I said just fly past you. :rolleyes:

What makes you think that it is necessary to be "constantly on the trigger"? Using the left to brake with doesn't require holding it above the brake pedal all the time.

There is a distinct asymmetry in information here. If you never use your left foot to brake with, how can you be qualified to comment on it? As I opened with, I use either foot on the brake pedal as is appropriate to the situation. I do know what it is like to drive using either method.

Obviously some people don't like having their received wisdom questioned.

I love how many on this thread like to make statements based on nothing more than THEIR opinion. The only convincing thing I have read here is when you see someone accelerating with the brake lights on, then you can ASSUME thay are left foot braking. It's possible to do that with only the right foot, not the left.

My "COMPUTER" in my car caused jerky first gear clutch engagement when I did not lift my left foot off the brake completely before stepping on the accelerator, PERIOD.

For the first time in decades yesterday I actually paid attention to my left foot braking technique. My left foot was seldom "HOVERING" over the pedal as SOME here seem to think they can ASS UME from my post. In fact in a 40 mile drive my foot "hovered over the pedal" only in the minuscule percentage of time when I felt there was a high level of danger from intersection traffic and then only for the short period of time when there was actual danger.

Maybe the real problem is for some it is just not in their comprehensional capabilities to even consider using one foot for acceleration and the other for braking, without issues related to those actions. In other words, critics, maybe you are just not mentally capable of the act. Since you seem to like tossing aspersions at me without a shred of evidence, there is one back at ya.

My driving puts people to sleep, including people who have never slept in a car in 50 years while someone else was driving.

Loading the left foot braking option is just another advantage in MY tool box of techniques. I recommend it to no one, but I will use it myself until I can drive no more.

I understand Franks frustration with other drivers who he sees with brake lights no while accelerating. I see similar stupidity and a daily basis. The only time someone behind me sees my brake lights when I am not braking intentionally is when the jackass is taligating me. Anyone who has experience driving in the Tidewater Va environment knows there is a plethora of stupidity here to match any metropolitan area in the country.

Bottom line, left foot braking has saved me from serious injury-death on several occasions. NOT BECASUE I DON'T PASS YOUR ASS UMPTIONS OF WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD DRIVER.

Coasting in neutral is illegal in VA, even with the engine running. Fairly sure it's illegal everywhere in the US. Does that make anyone here who coasts in neutral an irresposible law breaking idiot? The same coaster could be charged with obstructing the flow of traffic. You don't see me calling all the engine off coasters here idiots, and I expect the same respect, or you can KMA. Should I call Frank a Moron for driving a gas hog F150 and rant on about my Ranger that gets twice the mileage?

I started several replies to this thread when it got personal and deleted tham all, but since it just seems to keep going into personal attacks, guess I might as well pile on. Getting tired of this people, if you can't state your experiences and qualify you OPINIONS and ASS UMPTIONS, then maybe it's time for me to go elsewhere.

You might understand if you ever ride in a car with me. I challenge ANY member of this forum who is ever mear my location. I ride with you driving and you ride with me driving. Each person writes down their critique of the others driving. BET YOU MINE OF YOUR DRIVING IS LONGER THAN YOUR OF MY DRIVING, and more valid.

regards
Mech

Lol, left foot brake dragger :)