So as not to hijack Onomea thread "Is there another way to drive an automatic? " I never gave it much thought as I have never driven with my left foot on the brake as I felt it led to ridding the brake as stated in the thread. Let's see how many drivbe with one foot or two.

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Psalm 23:4

Always two!

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Jorge

With a standard - two feet
With an automatic - one foot

My wife brakes with her left foot. Seems I have to replace her brake pads a bit more often than usual.

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Recycled Bricklayer

I thought left foot braking died out when my generation learned to drive.

I guess I did it wrong this was suppose to be a poll. I've got a lot to learn still.

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Psalm 23:4

Only drive automatics now, left foot for the brakes, right for the gas. I've trained myself not to ride the brakes and find this system allows me to instantly accelerate or brake without having to stop and move a foot to the correct pedal. And FWIW all the accidents I've seen where people (usually but not always older drivers) pick the accelerator (instead of the brakes) and run into something, they used the right foot for both pedals.

Years ago, while taking a "school bus" training class, we were taught to leave your left foot on the floorboard, never to remove it to get on the brake. Right foot for throttle, right foot for brake. Period, end of story!!

I'm a left foot braker

Also a 2 stick ,one automatic.

My Father was one of the best drivers I've ever known. He drove jeeps and Army trucks all over the ETO in WWII. In civilian life he drove various buses, large trucks, towed travel trailers and boats. I witnessed (from the back seat of our 1972 Chrysler New Yorker) him quickly backing a 28 ft. travel trailer down a 1/4 mile curving one-lane on ramp, without any hesitation. Every time we pulled into a trailer park (that didn't have pull-through spaces) people always gathered around, because they assumed it was going to be fun to watch him struggle with parking it, and they were always left slack-jawed when he slapped it in there on the first try. Often times other campers would ask my Dad if he'd park their trailers for them, and he always did, and always made it look effortless. He used to say he had put more miles on in reverse than most people had in forward, and I suspect there was some truth to that.

So, when he taught me to drive...I listened. He was adamant that I NEVER use my left foot for anything, excepting for the clutch (all of our cars were automatics by then, on the insistence of my Mother). Every time we were on the road, and we'd see a car in front of us with either the brake lights constantly on, or the brake lights would flash at irregular and illogical intervals, he'd always comment that he'd bet 10-to-1 that the driver was using his left foot for the brake. He'd also say that (aside from the safety issue of drivers behind them not knowing when they're actually hitting their brakes) they must be wearing their brakes down faster, and probably getting worse gas mileage. I've followed his advice, and never, ever used my left foot for the brake,

Additionally, I recall seeing some study where they tested reaction times of drivers using both methods, and found that, at best, there was no advantage of either, but at the worst, the left footed brakers were slower. I'm sorry, I have no link to that specific study...but a quick search on Yahoo found multiple discussions of the pros and cons of both. It seems that some race car drivers use the left foot braking technique under some specific racing conditions or situations. In any case, I imagine most of us would agree that not all driving techniques which may be valid or useful on the racetrack are proper or correct for use on public roads.

Tim

After reading Bullzaye post above I realized that, the left foot for me was always the clutch and for those of us that are old enough to remember for the dimmer switch.

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Psalm 23:4

The only times I use my left foot is when the vehicle is a stick shift or I'm driving off-road.
The average time to move your foot from gas to break is 1/3 of a second.

One foot only, I'm never in a hurry.
Steve W

I am a proud graduate of two auto cross schools. Guess what? They both taught left foot braking...even with standard transmissions. It's tough to get down and the car's peddles have to be located right, but it will get you into a turn better than any other method I know of. (I don't do it on the street any more.)

Ed

Back in England using the left foot for anything other than the clutch was a no-no on the driving test. However, I used to left foot braking in slippery conditions in a lightweight stick shift car with a lot of torque so I could slow the car and change down without the clutch at the same time. By being forced to precisely match the engine and wheel speeds I avoided the rear end breaking traction. It did baffle passengers a bit.

With an automatic I will two-foot it on hills in cars with the cursed foot operated parking brake. A proper handbrake avoids this especially off road where I have been forced to shuffle my feet across the pedals to avoid rolling backwards. I also two-foot a fair bit off road to get a little more front end bite, although some of the modern traction control systems get grumpy at too much throttle and brake overlap.

Two foot, especially in stop-n-go traffic.

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USAF 1981 - 2001

Use the right foot for the gas and the brake. Left foot either operates clutch or does nothing. My earlier cars has clutches to it makes sense to me still.

If you use two feet in an emergency stop you will probably jam the gas and the brake to the floor.

Two pedals, two feet; Three pedals, all three feet. Where's the confusion?

Petter Solberg WRC Rally Italy 2003 Onboard pure sound FOOT CAM - YouTube

A fellow countryman with some fancy footwork.....

I recall a similar video showing Michele Mouton driving the Audi Sport Quattro S1. That lady could dance.

That's actually the one I was looking for but Petter ia a fellow squarehead so I posted his video.
Michelle was such a fantastic driver and back in those primitive Rally cars days you really had to dance.....

My father used to drive (automatic transmission) one foot on the gas pedal, other foot on the brake.

I thought it was retarded and I told him so.

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'Merica!

I learned to drive on a old John Deere Tractor, then to a 4 speed stick shift on the floor Dodge Pick-up. then a push button automatic 1956 Plymouth automatic ( or as my dad use to say a hydromatic). I Drivers Ed we were taught to brake and automatic trans car with the right foot. the reasoning was in an emergency you could be pushing on the gas pedal while trying to stop. I drive with one foot.

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Carpriver.

You still wear those funny ballet slipper when driving?

j/k

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

The best use of left-footed braking I ever heard of was when Jim Hall used to build and race his Chevy-powered Can-Am cars that, for a while at least, used a two-speed automatic transmission. He would prevent following drivers from going to school on him by using his left foot on the brake just as he was starting his drive out of a turn. Even the best drivers could not resist backing out when they saw his brake lights go on right in front of them. By the time they recovered, Hall would have opened up a big gap.

No, I never was privileged to share a race track with Jim Hall; I read about it on the internet, or whatever preceded it back in the late '60s.

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Not in jail.

My thoughts exactly....

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'Merica!

If you use two feet in an emergency stop you will probably jam the gas and the brake to the floor.

What he said.... I taught emergency evasive manuevers and pursuit driving. I found the above statement to be true in many cases.

You bet!

Ed

Every vehicle I've ever owned had a clutch. Right foot was for the gas (or the foot feet as my Dad called it) and the brake, the left foot worked the clutch only. My wife's little Yaris has an automatic transmission and when I'm driving she gets a good laugh because I keep fishing around for the clutch.

My left foot gets to relax while I drive. I was taught that it was supposed to be done that way.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Strictly a right footer here. I am, as I said in the other thread, amazed at all the two footed automatic transmission drivers! It never occurred to me to drive like that, so I didn't realize others did.

I wonder if, with the exception of professional racers and the like, it is a younger person thing? Maybe if one never grew up with a manual transmission, two feet feels normal?

Depends where I'm driving but I am Pro left foot brake

Two. If you don't have a clutch (or a dimmer switch) what else does your left have to do?

You might but I never have.

Two footed drivers are a car mechanics dream. You can follow those folks all over town or for miles and miles down the highway with their brake lights on grinding away at those pads.

I was taught 2 feet with a manual trans, 1 foot for automatics. If I remember correctly, when I took my drivers test (way back when) the Mo. State instructors deducted points for 2-footed-ness.

I remember reading about model T Fords. Right hand was the choke and throttle lever. Right foot was brake and reverse pedal. The left foot operated the clutch/shifter pedal and the left hand operated the spark advance and parking brake/ neutral/ shifter lever. Somewhere in there you also steered the vehicle. You were busy when driving one of those things.

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Those things were a menace.My father lost an eye working on one when he was 12 and sometime later broke a wrist starting it!

Gotta make sure the spark advance's fully retarded or it could kick back and break your wrist.

I have always used two feet when driving.

Riding the brake?? Why would you drive with your left foot resting on the brake pedal??? Now, that is dumb!!!

Does no one "heel and toe" anymore? Left foot is for the clutch, right does everything else.

I learned on manual transmissions, later raced them. Used to be if I'm driving an automatic, my left foot gets to relax and do nothing. I had a pretty serious motorcycle wreck a couple of years ago that forced me to drive two footed. Didn't much care for it, gave me a little extra incentive at therapy.

This is hilarious.
I already paid my $.02

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Halfway and one more step

Good heavens steve, you sound like you actually want to control your own car!! How dare you!
Back to kiddy skool for you, maybe government re-programming!

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Halfway and one more step

Pretty radical for a guy from a nanny state, isn't it?

one foot for a auto

Two for stick and one for auto. It's the way I learned and it seems to work better that way. I know people that will ride the break constantly when driving left foot on the brake.

Granted there are times when you are in some off road situations that using the left foot on the brake works but for everyday driving the right foot does all in an auto.

Being a LONG TIME motorcyclist one of THEEEE things that I HATE are idiots that drive with their brake lights on all of the time or flash on now and then.
Sometimes I think it's some kind of insurance scam - You get to where you believe that they aren't going to stop just because you see bright red lights.
That's why when I'm not driving my bike I drive an F-250

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In dog years I'm dead.

....Since my 67 Cooper and now with the GTI....
and yes I wear those"ballet flats", but only during quick jaunts through the Adirondacks to Montreal.

I have standard and auto cars and. I swap between um regularly. I NEVER left foot brake my auto car as I am trained to use it for the third pedal in my stick car so it is normal to not use it for me.. I will on occasion left foot the brake at a light if I need to keep revs up for some reason. When I was a kid we had both and I remember my mom causing our corvette (which was auto) to do an unscheduled 360 because she mashed the brake with her left foot because she was used to our other car which was a stick. So I avoid the left on brake now.

I have a mix of manual & auto vehicles.
Both feet driving the MT cars, but right foot primarily with the AT vehicles. When needed I will use both feet when driving AT, but not very often these days. Not too many stretches of road to attack that folks aren't always on.