I always right foot brake. Using my left foot would just feel wierd and awkward. I think people who grew up or use manual transmissions are far more likely to do it than people who learned to drive and regularly drive an automatic. My parents both right foot brake and that's how they taught me.
Just had an uncommanded acceleration '11 Ecoboost
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Originally Posted By: Vikas
Or an aircraft pilot?
Airline pilots are known to wear out brakes in less than 20,000 miles due to being so accustomed to "riding" the pedals.
Or an aircraft pilot?
Airline pilots are known to wear out brakes in less than 20,000 miles due to being so accustomed to "riding" the pedals.
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Must be old forklift operator`s or something.
Funny you mention that, I drove a forklift for years. I cannot left foot brake in a car to save my life! Always seemed strange to me that I can modulate an inching pedal or a clutch with my left foot but cannot be smooth with just a brake.
Must be old forklift operator`s or something.
Funny you mention that, I drove a forklift for years. I cannot left foot brake in a car to save my life! Always seemed strange to me that I can modulate an inching pedal or a clutch with my left foot but cannot be smooth with just a brake.
Folks who right foot brake are less likely to press 'em BOTH at the same time.
Originally Posted By: Nick R
I think people who grew up or use manual transmissions are far more likely to do it than people who learned to drive and regularly drive an automatic.
Not sure what manual transmission you've driven, but your left foot is for the clutch pedal ONLY. Right foot controls accelerator & decelerator pedals.
I've driven nothing but manuals for the last 15 years and never once do I left foot brake when saddled with a slushbox rental. Nor would I expect anyone else to do so, the motions for modulating a brake pedal and a clutch pedal are very different.
I will admit to being slightly surprised when my left foot goes all the way to the floor upon starting an automatic for the first time... old habits die hard!
I think people who grew up or use manual transmissions are far more likely to do it than people who learned to drive and regularly drive an automatic.
Not sure what manual transmission you've driven, but your left foot is for the clutch pedal ONLY. Right foot controls accelerator & decelerator pedals.
I've driven nothing but manuals for the last 15 years and never once do I left foot brake when saddled with a slushbox rental. Nor would I expect anyone else to do so, the motions for modulating a brake pedal and a clutch pedal are very different.
I will admit to being slightly surprised when my left foot goes all the way to the floor upon starting an automatic for the first time... old habits die hard!
OVERKILL
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Originally Posted By: scurvy
Originally Posted By: Nick R
I think people who grew up or use manual transmissions are far more likely to do it than people who learned to drive and regularly drive an automatic.
Not sure what manual transmission you've driven, but your left foot is for the clutch pedal ONLY. Right foot controls accelerator & decelerator pedals.
I've driven nothing but manuals for the last 15 years and never once do I left foot brake when saddled with a slushbox rental. Nor would I expect anyone else to do so, the motions for modulating a brake pedal and a clutch pedal are very different.
I will admit to being slightly surprised when my left foot goes all the way to the floor upon starting an automatic for the first time... old habits die hard!
Yes, I periodically mash the dead pedal on the Expedition if I've been driving the BMW a lot, LOL!
Originally Posted By: Nick R
I think people who grew up or use manual transmissions are far more likely to do it than people who learned to drive and regularly drive an automatic.
Not sure what manual transmission you've driven, but your left foot is for the clutch pedal ONLY. Right foot controls accelerator & decelerator pedals.
I've driven nothing but manuals for the last 15 years and never once do I left foot brake when saddled with a slushbox rental. Nor would I expect anyone else to do so, the motions for modulating a brake pedal and a clutch pedal are very different.
I will admit to being slightly surprised when my left foot goes all the way to the floor upon starting an automatic for the first time... old habits die hard!
Yes, I periodically mash the dead pedal on the Expedition if I've been driving the BMW a lot, LOL!
Agreed. I learned and drove an manual transmission vehicle in my first 6 years of driving, and never had the urge to brake with my left foot in an automatic. I also drive a forklift at least once a day at work. I have done as mentioned above, mashing the dead pedal the first time in an automatic.
I'm just glad our (stand-up, electric) forklift uses hand controls except for the dead man's pedal. On the rare occasions I have to use the big sit-down LPG forklifts for something really heavy, they have 'standard' forward/reverse levers on the column to shift direction and idle high enough not to need to drive with both feet.
Originally Posted By: 1999nick
My sons all right foot brake, like most of you seem to do. It irritates me when I'm riding with one of them, they are stopped at a light and there is that momentary hesitation when they take their foot off the brake and find the accelerator.
If I'm on a hill where the Jeep won't start moving in the 1/4 second it takes to move my foot over, I'll usually put my left foot on the brake when I see that the light is about to change so I can take off more smoothly / quickly. Other than that, right foot braking unless I need the right foot to rev-match a downshift.
My sons all right foot brake, like most of you seem to do. It irritates me when I'm riding with one of them, they are stopped at a light and there is that momentary hesitation when they take their foot off the brake and find the accelerator.
If I'm on a hill where the Jeep won't start moving in the 1/4 second it takes to move my foot over, I'll usually put my left foot on the brake when I see that the light is about to change so I can take off more smoothly / quickly. Other than that, right foot braking unless I need the right foot to rev-match a downshift.
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Yes, I periodically mash the dead pedal on the Expedition if I've been driving the BMW a lot, LOL!
I did this on the foot operated parking brake in my mother-in-law's Prius once. Oops, that's not the clutch. Quite a jolt!
Yes, I periodically mash the dead pedal on the Expedition if I've been driving the BMW a lot, LOL!
I did this on the foot operated parking brake in my mother-in-law's Prius once. Oops, that's not the clutch. Quite a jolt!
You can always tell the folks with no track time.
Left foot usage is important whether the car is slushbox or stick on the track as Cujet noted previously.
You have two feet, they can be used for different purposes!
Left foot usage is important whether the car is slushbox or stick on the track as Cujet noted previously.
You have two feet, they can be used for different purposes!
My dad taught me two-foot driving when I learned. I find it much smoother in parking lots and on twisty two-lane roads. I've never hit the wrong pedal. I even drove with both feet in *gasp* a Toyota Camry. I drove with both feet in my Corolla, too, but it had three pedals.
Switching between manual transmissions and automatic transmissions using both feet is not a problem.
Switching between manual transmissions and automatic transmissions using both feet is not a problem.
For those hinting at my ineptness. You may be right, about other subjects, but not this one, and not this time.
I'm not an airline pilot, I'm a Gulfstream G550 mechanic and an aircraft owner/pilot. I understand machinery quite well. My driving skills have been honed over the years, as I've 30 years of non-professional track time under my belt. I am qualified to provide this description of the situation. The engine accelerated and produced significant power, without any command from me. Period, end of story.
I'm not an airline pilot, I'm a Gulfstream G550 mechanic and an aircraft owner/pilot. I understand machinery quite well. My driving skills have been honed over the years, as I've 30 years of non-professional track time under my belt. I am qualified to provide this description of the situation. The engine accelerated and produced significant power, without any command from me. Period, end of story.
Originally Posted By: Cujet
For those hinting at my ineptness. You may be right, about other subjects, but not this one, and not this time.
I'm not an airline pilot, I'm a Gulfstream G550 mechanic and an aircraft owner/pilot. I understand machinery quite well. My driving skills have been honed over the years, as I've 30 years of non-professional track time under my belt. I am qualified to provide this description of the situation. The engine accelerated and produced significant power, without any command from me. Period, end of story.
Thanks for this. This is why I'm following this thread closely. Reliable accounts of this kind of situation seem pretty rare -- not just because of questionable driving skills (e.g. the left foot braking discussion) but because many people aren't accustomed to or adept at consciously taking account of the situation when they have an experience like this. I'm talking about taking a mental snapshot that lets you say with confidence, "OK, the truck is revving up but my right foot is tucked under the seat". Too easy for details to be lost if you don't have good enough situational awareness RIGHT when the problem occurs.
For those hinting at my ineptness. You may be right, about other subjects, but not this one, and not this time.
I'm not an airline pilot, I'm a Gulfstream G550 mechanic and an aircraft owner/pilot. I understand machinery quite well. My driving skills have been honed over the years, as I've 30 years of non-professional track time under my belt. I am qualified to provide this description of the situation. The engine accelerated and produced significant power, without any command from me. Period, end of story.
Thanks for this. This is why I'm following this thread closely. Reliable accounts of this kind of situation seem pretty rare -- not just because of questionable driving skills (e.g. the left foot braking discussion) but because many people aren't accustomed to or adept at consciously taking account of the situation when they have an experience like this. I'm talking about taking a mental snapshot that lets you say with confidence, "OK, the truck is revving up but my right foot is tucked under the seat". Too easy for details to be lost if you don't have good enough situational awareness RIGHT when the problem occurs.
Try running a code on the PCM.
Wow...dam odd..and scary. Definitely got your attention, eh? The sled is too old for TBW so no worries there.
Over the years I've gotten in the habit of putting the AT in "N" while stopped in traffic, at drive-ins, etc. as the car will move fwd in "D" with no foot on the brake. Got in the habit after driving a manual transmission for 14 yrs. . .
I'm not an advocate of all this xxx-by-wire in cars. Just because it's possible doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. Tech for tech's sake isn't enough for me. And I'm an engineer too.
Finally, to anyone who says "they've been doing this in airplanes for years". Yeah, but cars are not airplanes and the systems are NOT the same. Can you imagine how much a car would cost if the xxxx-by-wire systems were flight-qualified?
Gimme a break. . . .
Over the years I've gotten in the habit of putting the AT in "N" while stopped in traffic, at drive-ins, etc. as the car will move fwd in "D" with no foot on the brake. Got in the habit after driving a manual transmission for 14 yrs. . .
I'm not an advocate of all this xxx-by-wire in cars. Just because it's possible doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. Tech for tech's sake isn't enough for me. And I'm an engineer too.
Finally, to anyone who says "they've been doing this in airplanes for years". Yeah, but cars are not airplanes and the systems are NOT the same. Can you imagine how much a car would cost if the xxxx-by-wire systems were flight-qualified?
Gimme a break. . . .
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Tech for tech's sake isn't enough for me.
Except that it's not for "tech's sake". There are many benefits to DBW, none of which are "wow, this is cool; no cable!"
Tech for tech's sake isn't enough for me.
Except that it's not for "tech's sake". There are many benefits to DBW, none of which are "wow, this is cool; no cable!"
^^^I am certain if some folks had their way we'd all be driving around like Fred Flintstone.
DBW was actually necessary, pretty much because of govt legislating emissions and safety regs like stability control, into cars.
There is no way to deliver a vehicle without it anymore.
Better get used to seeing it.
DBW was actually necessary, pretty much because of govt legislating emissions and safety regs like stability control, into cars.
There is no way to deliver a vehicle without it anymore.
Better get used to seeing it.
I wish all the left-foot-brake bashers would just give it a rest already.
And I'm a RIGHT foot braker! I know that left-foot braking can be done wrong, resulting in dragging brakes and always-on taillights and unintended acceleration, but you can screw up RIGHT-foot braking also. The only time I've ever even come CLOSE to "unintended acceleration" was right-foot braking and catching the corner of the accelerator pedal with the edge of my shoe in an unfamiliar car. Fortunately, I caught myself quickly.
I learned to drive on a stick-shift. My left foot is as useful as my right... and sometimes I brake with it. But when I'm NOT braking, its off to the left on the "dead pedal." Nothing at all wrong with using both your feet if you do it right.
And for the "its impossible" gang, I will respectfully suggest you change your song to "its UNLIKELY." The computer can't tell an erroneous input from the pedal position sensor from a real one. Yes, internally the sensor can have two independent sensors, but there's always a (slim) chance that they can erroneously output the same reading, or at least one within tolerance. And there's always just ONE pedal, so a mechanical fault in the pedal assembly can always pass the computer's tests.
But I'm not going to say "this would never happen without DBW." I've seen a few stuck throttle cables and broken throttle springs in my life, so the driver ALWAYS has to be prepared to deal with this kind of emergency. My real belief is that cars today are so flippin' well-behaved MOST of the time that a lot of driver awareness has been lost. Back in the days when your '62 Dynamic 88 was just as likely to backfire and stall as it was to go like bloody stink when merging into traffic on a cold morning, we were all much more practiced in responding to mechanical glitches that made the vehicle do something we didn't intend. I wouldn't want to go back to those days, but it is a fact that we're more insulated from the real workings of the vehicle than ever before.
And I'm a RIGHT foot braker! I know that left-foot braking can be done wrong, resulting in dragging brakes and always-on taillights and unintended acceleration, but you can screw up RIGHT-foot braking also. The only time I've ever even come CLOSE to "unintended acceleration" was right-foot braking and catching the corner of the accelerator pedal with the edge of my shoe in an unfamiliar car. Fortunately, I caught myself quickly.
I learned to drive on a stick-shift. My left foot is as useful as my right... and sometimes I brake with it. But when I'm NOT braking, its off to the left on the "dead pedal." Nothing at all wrong with using both your feet if you do it right.
And for the "its impossible" gang, I will respectfully suggest you change your song to "its UNLIKELY." The computer can't tell an erroneous input from the pedal position sensor from a real one. Yes, internally the sensor can have two independent sensors, but there's always a (slim) chance that they can erroneously output the same reading, or at least one within tolerance. And there's always just ONE pedal, so a mechanical fault in the pedal assembly can always pass the computer's tests.
But I'm not going to say "this would never happen without DBW." I've seen a few stuck throttle cables and broken throttle springs in my life, so the driver ALWAYS has to be prepared to deal with this kind of emergency. My real belief is that cars today are so flippin' well-behaved MOST of the time that a lot of driver awareness has been lost. Back in the days when your '62 Dynamic 88 was just as likely to backfire and stall as it was to go like bloody stink when merging into traffic on a cold morning, we were all much more practiced in responding to mechanical glitches that made the vehicle do something we didn't intend. I wouldn't want to go back to those days, but it is a fact that we're more insulated from the real workings of the vehicle than ever before.
^^^Hear, hear!
Great post.
Great post.
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