Left Foot Drivers!!

I just read an article about a Mercedes owner complaining about the low speed throttle response on his Luxobarge. Pulling into a parking place was a nightmare because the car wouldn't go unless he gave it a lot of gas and then it went too fast.

Finallly a service tech asked him if he braked with his left foot. The driver did drive that way. His Mercedes didn't allow the throttle to function when the brake was applied!

The service manual says our torque converter unlocks when the brake is applied. I'm wondering what other issues come up from left foot braking.

kw

Interesting concept. I do use my left foot for braking occasionally, but don't simultaneously apply throttle all that often so I haven't noticed any issues with the process.

2 things

1 - in driver's ed they told us that left foot driving(aka two footed driving) reduces response and can create confusion in a 'crisis' situation - hit gas instead of brake.

2 - at times using your left foot on the brake depending on the resting position, can cause the brake pedal to activate the brake lights and not the brakes, meaning the guy behind you doesn't know when you are stopping.

Just my .02, but it shouldn't be done because it has more chance for safety lapses, and causes road rage from the annoyed guy behind you.

I once rear ended a person who had her foot on the brake for several blocks then she decided to come to an abrupt stop - granted, I could have been more careful to follow a little farther off, but after seeing that she wasn't stopping for so long , then suddenly deciding to stop contributed.

For many people it's habitual. When you come across someone who spends a lot of time at a drag strip, then they will usually drive two footed, or even your "older" drivers (no offense to anyone) are used to older setups.
I personally never drive two footed, but at a light or something I may hold the pedal with my left foot. Being 6'5'', my feet cramp up after a long day of stop and go driving.
I can see how driving two footed these days could be a problem. Might have to work with it next time I'm at the track.

Later,
CT

Only two instances where I use left foot on brake....to tap the brake just enough to "lite em up" when being followed too closely, and if I'm trying to creep really close to something, as in parking. I do a lot of freeway driving and have been behind far too many that obviously rest their left foot on the brake pedal.

I am a left foot braker. If you have ever driven an older car that doesn't want to idle you need to keep your right foot on the gas to keep the engine running.

If you are at the strip you may want to bring the revs up prior to the green light to get a better launch.

I believe that my response time is faster in a sudden braking situation. While my right foot is lifting my left foot is already going down. In a panic situation I have noticed that sometimes BOTH of my feet go for the brake, the left foot always gets there first (previous experience driving a manual transmission forces your right foot to the brake).

I make a point to be sure that my left foot doesn't ever touch the brake pedal. On long trips my left ankle may get tired, but I am used to it after 25 years of driving.

If you are stopped on a steep uphill street at a light you may need to give it gas with the brake on to keep from rolling backwards. How do any of you do that? How does the Mercedes do that?

MojoAv said:

1 - in driver's ed they told us that left foot driving(aka two footed driving) reduces response and can create confusion in a 'crisis' situation - hit gas instead of brake.

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I can understand this one in a drivers' ed class as at that time you would not have learned the necessary co-ordination just for normal operation of the vehicle, let alone using left foot for braking (although if you learned to drive a stick shift it's kinda difficult to brake with the left foot anyway). I picked up my "habit" as I learned to drive in a stick shift and had read early on that many stick shift drivers preferred to brake with the left foot when driving an auto.

MojoAv said:

2 - at times using your left foot on the brake depending on the resting position, can cause the brake pedal to activate the brake lights and not the brakes, meaning the guy behind you doesn't know when you are stopping.

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Regardless of whether I ride the brake (which I don't) the moron behind me should not be travelling so close as to not be able to avoid a collision. I personally always leave a huge amount of space between myself and the vehicle in front of me. People in the lanes either side of me love it as they have plenty of room to get in front of me and the people behind obviously get annoyed wondering why I'm not doing the same to the person in front of me as they're doing to me. Having all the extra room makes it possible to pay more attention to the surroundings instead of just focusing completely on the bumper of the car in front.

Not turning this into a ranting match, just adding my point of view...

I just can't brake with my left foot. It seems unnatural to me, and I think I remember it being noted as illegal in the driver's ed book.

For those who used to drive manuals, isn't the brake still too far to the right to feel natural? I have had 7 cars (including the Av), 3 out of the first 4 were 5 speeds. I still couldn't brake with my left foot....

Craig

....now I miss driving a 5 speed.

Wombat said:

Regardless of whether I ride the brake (which I don't) the moron behind me should not be travelling so close as to not be able to avoid a collision. I personally always leave a huge amount of space between myself and the vehicle in front of me.

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You're right that everyone should maintain a comfortable stopping distance all the time, but when the person in front of you is giving incorrect signals you eventually have to ignore them and that leads to a more dangerous driving situation regardless of whether the person back there is a "moron" or not. If someone is riding the brake then the person behind now must rely solely only their depth perception to tell if he's stopping and how fast. "So what" you say, "it's easy to tell when someone is getting closer to you". If that were true then why do we have brake lights at all?

If the guy in front of you on the freeway is driving slowly and has left their left turn signal on for miles, do you avoid passing them because someday they might decide to turn or do you finally decide that he's just forgotten to turn it off and pass as quickly and safely as you can? If that same guy merges left into you as you are passing and your front bumper hits his rear corner who's at fault? "He did have his turn signal on" he'll say to the officer, and I can tell you that a vast majority of the time the person with damage on the FRONT of their vehicle is found at fault regardless of the circumstances though I personally disagree.

This is the same situation. If you ride your brake you're invalidating your own signal system that warns other drivers around you of what your intended actions are. Brake with your left foot if you have to, it's your choice. But don't rest it on the pedal or you're asking for an accident.

Similarly, if you ride a motorcycle and frequenty slow by down-shifting (engine braking) ALWAYS grab the brake just a little so that your tail light tells the guy behind you what you're doing. I had at least 100 drivers come zooming up on my rear end when I had a bike and it wasn't until I realized that they didn't get a warning that I was slowing because I was engine-braking that I knew why. Of course I thought they were all "morons" till I realized that.

Likewise, this wasn't intended to be a rant. Just pointing out the story from the other guy's windshield.

I absolutely agree that a safe distance should be maintained, but as mentioned, when the brake light is on consistently, it is more difficult to determine that the vehicle in front is slowing or in my experience, suddenly stopping, depth perception is not the best way to judge intentions.

I only added my comments in day to day driving, obvioulsy the race track has different applications.

I just feel that overall that using one foot to drive an automatic transmission vehicle is safer. It allows you to avoid resting the left foot on the pedal and activating the lights, and eliminates the brain processing which foot to depress in a panic situation.

Anyhow - good discussion to see other points of view

Very interesting dicussion on the pros/cons of left foot braking. Most of my early years of driving were with manual transmissions, so I necessarily learned to drive with my right foot on the brake or gas, leaving my left foot for the clutch. Even with an automatic I sill only drive with my right foot. On the very few occasions where I need the left foot to brake (most of which are discussed above) I find it unatural, and far less sensitive, but I assume that would change with practice.

Still, I suppose it is possible to drive safely with your left foot on the brake, but it is also very possible to not be safe that way.

I remember riding as a passenger with my mother behind the wheel. Now that was a scary experience. In her style of driving, the gas pedal had only two positions: on the floor, or completely up. To modulate her speed, she would alternately floor and release the gas pedal. In some situations (like a parking lot) that would be too much, so she would ride the brake in order to minimize the effects of the gas pedal oscillations. But even just driving down the road, she would still often ride or pulsate the brakes to get finer control from her all or nothing gas pedal manipulations.

Now, this was bad enough when she was driving her own car, a Pinto with a small anemic four cylinder engine and manual brakes. But occasionaly she would need to drive my father's car, which at the time was a 350 V8 Cutlass with touchy power brakes. Let me tell you, riding the brake while mashing the gas on that car was truly a scary experience!

So I will concede that there are those who can safely handle a vehicle with left foot braking, but it can open up the door to a slew of bad habits.

-- SS

If I used my left foot to hit the brake I would be looking to change gears.........as my left foot only knows a clutch.......

I care less how each drives as long as the brake light is only on when braking and you turn the blinker off after a mile......

PS get out of the left hand lane when you are not passing

Speaking of Passing, I'm about to go on a personal rant.

Never pass on the right. It is dangerous, and usually done by people rat racing trying to get through traffic.

If people stayed out of the left lane, then passing on the right would go away.

BTW, I think Illinois just passed a law making it illegal to cruise in the left lane...passing only please.

TXAvy, good post...

ShapeShifter, I would have gone crazy driving with your mom, or anyone who drives like that. How do people get licenses anway?

Craig

CraigF said:

BTW, I think Illinois just passed a law making it illegal to cruise in the left lane...passing only please.
Craig

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Pennsylvania also has the same laws.

Agent M.

CraigF said:

If people stayed out of the left lane, then passing on the right would go away.

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I am also bothered by people who pass on the right, and keeping right would mostly solve that problem. However, you still have the guy who will ride right up to your bumper as you are passing someone. Then as you pass, and signal to merge right, and waiting until you have a couple of car lengths behind you to merge safely, that guy on your bumper will squeeze through that slot and still pass you on the right, even though there is only a foot of free space between all three vehicles. C'mon guy, wait a couple more seconds and you won't be risking the lives in all three vehicles. ?

ShapeShifter, ?I would have gone crazy driving with your mom, or anyone who drives like that. ?How do people get licenses anway?

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I have no idea how she got or kept a license. I used to hate to get in any car that had her behind the wheel.

-- SS

I don't brake with my left foot. I would be, as ygmn, wanting to change gears. We have an inordinate amount of older drivers here and it is apparent they are left foot brakers as their brake lights are on continually.

Wombat said:

Regardless of whether I ride the brake (which I don't) the moron behind me should not be travelling so close as to not be able to avoid a collision. I personally always leave a huge amount of space between myself and the vehicle in front of me.

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Around here any space large enough to fit a car in is going to have a car in it. So you would be continually slowing down trying to open that space up. There is just too much traffic on the road to accommodate large gaps in the flow.

As far as passing on the right goes, I admit I do it all the time. Almost always because of people in the left lane wanting huge gaps between them and the car in front of them. Or on the interstate where two vehicles will be pacing each other side by side with a complete disregard to drivers behind them. That there are people who pass on the right is directly attributed to fact that there are too many people who don't know how to get out of the left lane.

Take Germany, for example. It is sheer pleasure highway driving over there. Move over, pass, move back. Everyone does it. Everyone goes the speed they want to go.

half-breed said:

If you are stopped on a steep uphill street at a light you may need to give it gas with the brake on to keep from rolling backwards. How do any of you do that? How does the Mercedes do that?

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Heel-and-toe. Heel on the brake and toe on the gas.

Someone indicated using the left foot could cause a problem because it isn't natural and your brain needs to "think" about it. Your brain will do whatever it instintivly does which is probably whatever you do all the time. If you use your left foot all of the time, it will be instinct. In a panic situation do you sit and think "use the right foot"? No, you just do it because it is what you usually do.

Pasing....I always stay in the right lane until I come up to a car in front of me, then I move to the left to get around it. What should I do when I come up to a car that is in the left lane on a 2 lane road? Move to the left and sit behind it, or remain in the right and continue past it? Sit in the right at the same speed forever? There are many idots that sit in the left lane even when the right is going faster? I sit in the right until I need to go around someone.

LOTS of places have the "stay right unless passing" rule, but almost nowhere is it actually enforced. Get a little publicity in the local paper with a police campaign to write a few tickets for it and behavior will start to change.

TXAVy said:

LOTS of places have the "stay right unless passing" rule, but almost nowhere is it actually enforced.

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Not in Australia... keep left mate.

Sorry, had to say it...