People who drive automatics with 2 feet?

[DrWho]

The problem with left foot braking is you rarely are able to have your left heel on the floor - which means no control whatsoever. And when braking hard, you never want to instantaneously go from acceleration to braking as it shifts the weight balance of the car too quickly and will always result in loss of control during evasive manuvering. The key to fast and safe driving is being smooth and slow on the controls.

Brake torquing when dragging or doing slow precision driving (like with heavy loads) is just a good way of compensating for gear lag and is good for the transmission (but bad on the brakes).

Good driving technique is all about optomizing control over the vehicle.

[meagain]

My wife will noticeably continue to accelerate when the person in front of us hits the brakes. It annoys me big time, and makes me feel a sense of "lack of control". Sometimes it downright scares me a little.

My husband does that too! We'll be on the highway and clearly traffic is slowing ahead with everyone's brake lights on. In that case, I would take my foot off the gas. He'll keep going. I think this has nothing with the 2-footed thing, but it drives me nuts. He'll keep driving at normal speed. Like he uses physical distance as his guide instead of the overall situation.

I'll continue with my rant... I feel he doesn't account for others' driver error. Each time I say something, he twists it around and says "I can handle this just fine" but what I really said is the OTHERS can't handle it! It's almost like he assumes the other drivers are good drivers. I feel he doesn't think that there could be an 85 year old behind, next, or in front that can't react well.

I also feel he often drives too close and doesn't do the 3-4 second rule and prevent an adequate cushion around the car in case something disasterous happens ahead.

Further, when I clearly sense/feel/see something amiss ahead (bad driver, someone speeding in/out, etc)... I feel he should back off on the gas.

Oh yea - and he has this VERY annoying and dangerous issue with turning signals. He puts the damn signal on WHEN he's turning. Not before. Even if stuck in traffic or wanting to get to the next lane he'll often even inch his car over but not turn on his signal. I tell him the purpose of the signal is to SIGNAL your INTENT. No. He turns it on at the verymost last possible minute and often during the turn. Yet another indication of no concern for the environment.

He's never had an accident. Ever.

[Duke Spinner]

that and attending the Jeff Barber School of Racing....was 20 years ago ....

Wasn't that Skip Barber???

AAAhhhhhhh.......

yes, Skip ........

it was 20 years ago ......[:$]

[Jay481985]

Oh yea - and he has this VERY annoying and dangerous issue with turning signals. He puts the damn signal on WHEN he's turning. Not before. Even if stuck in traffic or wanting to get to the next lane he'll often even inch his car over but not turn on his signal. I tell him the purpose of the signal is to SIGNAL your INTENT. No. He turns it on at the verymost last possible minute and often during the turn. Yet another indication of no concern for the environment.

He's never had an accident. Ever.

what is he a NJ/NY driver []

[meagain]

After that Zappa tribute band we saw the other night, as soon as we got on the highway I was freeking. Impending sense of doom. I know myself well enough to know such feelings spell reality.

First - the motorcycle guy passes us. Big fancy cycle. Having already this sense of traffic doom, I just shook my head thinking no no no.

Second - The drivers ahead were all doing around 60 with around 10 feet between each other. Perhaps I exaggerate because I was freeking internally, but boy was I being a backseat driver.

Third - By this time hubby is fully aware of my doom thinking and is keeping TONS of distance between us and others. The guy in front of us very very gradually is veering from the lane to the shoulder. There were warning signs (not pissy cones) on the line between lane & shoulder. I thought "here we go". The guy missed the sign by probably 1 inch.

By now I'm praying to get home. Traffic slowed to a standstill. Hubby felt it was road construction. At midnight. Creating a standstill. Then came the dumba**'s backing up 1/2 on the shoulder, 1/2 on the road in reverse to grab the last exit. Do people not know how to reverse anymore? God only knows what happened to them.

We finally get to the "scene". There were literally 15+ vehicles strewn about. In the center was the smashed up motorcycle laying on the pavement. I suggest if half of those drivers were allowing a proper cushion, perhaps some of them might have gotten out unscathed.

[meagain]

So I emailed my father in law to see if he still drives with 2 feet. His response:

Left foot lightly touching the brake pedal at all times. Right foot on the gas. Why do you ask?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[Jay481985]

The problem with left foot braking is you rarely are able to have your left heel on the floor - which means no control whatsoever. And when braking hard, you never want to instantaneously go from acceleration to braking as it shifts the weight balance of the car too quickly and will always result in loss of control during evasive manuvering. The key to fast and safe driving is being smooth and slow on the controls. actually drwho, you want weight shifting as per panick braking. When the weight transfers to the front while heavy braking it is better as it puts pressure on the front wheels which means the tire will grip harder making it thus brake better. Rear brakes do very little of the braking. When accidents happen you want to stop as quickly as possible that is the whole % game now. straight line your at 100% braking ability of the car, try to steer and you lose the 100% to whatever amount you steered. Again you want to load the tires up to the point of wheel lock as that gives you maximum braking potential. ABS does not mean shorter stoppage, it is primarily meant for control of the vehicle while braking. Again there is no one answer that sums it all up. In ice it is actually better to lock the wheels as you have a predictable path, need all the grip you have available, and abs by pumping its brakes might cause you to swerve. In the rain abs is better and in the dry to. I think that you read the acceleration to brakes part meant for taking a turn, in that case that is right. In straight line that method is wrong. As I did talk about weight shift in a prior post with the quick release of the gas pedal will cause centripenal force for your rear to cut loose. Again there is also a point when trying to avoid an accident may lead to a bigger accident than just hitting the object ahead. Every 10 miles I believe reduces the impact by 4 times less so if you know your going to hit it hit it as slow as possible. Also glancing hits may be more fatal if you make an error as it might not be a glancing hit but a off center crash like they do for the insurances institute of highway traffic (its always shown on Dateline NBC) as the government only does a full frontal crash test.

just another thought, racecar drivers try to be as smooth as possible on the racetrack, it get quicker laps, less wear on the car (mainly tires), saves gas, prevents unnecessary accidents,

Brake torquing when dragging or doing slow precision driving (like with heavy loads) is just a good way of compensating for gear lag and is good for the transmission (but bad on the brakes). brake torque good for the transmission??? no.....

Good driving technique is all about optomizing control over the vehicle. so is having patience on the road.

[meagain]

Oh yea... The "mirror episode"... So FIL visits and goes into this big spiel about this "other method" to setting the 3 mirrors in your car for betterviewing. Bonus points for it eliminating the need to turn your head. Saying you just have to get used to it.

So my husband, thinking this is some "logical thing", proceeds to buy the arguement and try it. Thank goodness it was short-lived cuz I'm telling you - I got in the car and couldn't see one darned thing anywhere. You wouldn't believe how they were layed out.

Drivers education in schools are a good thing.

[colterphoto1]

Could someone interest you in some funeral pre-planning?

You are in a vehicle with IDIOTS!

[Malcolm]

I use both feet on cars with automatic transmissions. I also drive vehicles with manual transmissions. I think the reason driving with both feet is discouraged goes back to the early days of automatic transmissions and the fear the people would get confused. But it has never been a problem for me.

[Jay481985]

So I emailed my father in law to see if he still drives with 2 feet. His response:

Left foot lightly touching the brake pedal at all times. Right foot on the gas. Why do you ask?

Well I pray he does not own a mercedes. The Shift by Wire electronic brake on the e class 03-05 were taking off due to mechanical problems and "feeling" problems. This was where there was no direct link to the breaks, there was a gauge that told a computer how much you were pressing the brake pedal and then it would tell the brakes to clamp accordingly but it sucked. Tis was an on off feeling.

Also Mercedes and some other car companies copying now use a system that detects when you touch the brake pedal to anticipate a full brake ahead thus giving full potential to brake its hardest but if your dad has the foot on the brake always....... trouble.....

[jorjen]

Well, I am not one of those guys out there fortunate enough to be driving around with 2 feet, but I have never had any complaints from the wife either. []

Hey, Fini was no where to be found, so I felt it was my duty!

[meagain]

Father in law's left heal: Resting on the floor just a little to the left of the brake pedal. Your left foot is angled about 30 degrees to the right.

WTF? Aren't you supposed to FULLY put your foot on the brake? In the cars I've driven, it takes some oomph to push that brake down in a crisis. Takes effort. He's pushing 80. He lives very far away from Chicagoland.

[Jay481985]

most power brake cars do not need that much umphfff anymore. Maybe you should have your brakes checked and brakes bleeded? Also new brake pads always have a initial bit as there is less space inbetween the rotor and pad

[wuzzzer]

I think it would be terribly uncomfortable to drive that way all the time. Most cars don't have the pedals spaced far enough apart to let you drive like that very well. Your right leg has a pretty straight shot at pushing both the accelerator and brake pedals firmly down. Using your left leg on the brake makes your leg have to be twisted at a funky angle to press it down. Unless you sit with your whole body turned slightly, which again brings me back to the uncomfortable nature of doing it.

[meagain]

I agree. Must be uncomfy. We talked about this tonight. Hubby said when on the highway or during times of clear, easy traffic, he'll rest his foot on the foot pad next to the brake. When there's traffic, his foot is ready at the brake.

IDK - I'm thinking I'm losing this argument. It does make sense that it's technically a shorter distance to the brake with 2 foot driving.

What bothers me is his father saying he has his heal on the floor to the left of the brake with the ball of the foot on it. I don't think having your ankle cocked/twisted like that is a good thing if disaster strikes. At least my husband's foot has a straight shot. Which I would think would provide more muscle oomph?

I further see no evidence or studies saying this is bad. Moreso, that 2-footing can be a good thing.

I usually don't lose. I don't like it.

[MarkBK]

It's all part ofhubby's master plan to.........

[MarkBK]

It's all part of hubby's master plan to ...........

[DrWho]

actually drwho, you want weight shifting as per panick braking. When the weight transfers to the front while heavy braking it is better as it puts pressure on the front wheels which means the tire will grip harder making it thus brake better. Rear brakes do very little of the braking.

First of all, if anyone ever "panics" in a car they deserve to crash. And the problem with that logic is you are ignoring the effect of shock rebound and the physics of friction. Shifting the weight to the front tires doesn't improve braking by putting more weight on the front tires because it is also taking weight off the rear tires. The car weighs N pounds and friction is a linear correlation to a vehicles weight and is not affected by surface area. No matter where the weight is distributed there is the same maximum friction potential - which means the car will stop just as fast regardless of which tires have the weight on them.

What you really want to do with evasive manuvering is keep the car stable - which means keeping the suspension out of rebound and controlling the momentum of the car. Mashing the brakes compresses the front suspension very far and will be compounded when the gear lag catches up (when you hit the brake too fast).

brake torque good for the transmission??? no.....

Everytime your car sits still with the engine running the brake torque is engaged. It is designed to brake torque all the time. Sure, dragging itself isn't good for the car, but the way to cause as little damage as possible involves a fully reved brake torque as it prevents gears from slamming into each other and minimizes tire spin. It also happens to be faster too...

Dodge has a very good driving school that should be a part of drivers ed where they go over all of this stuff. It'll also lower your insurance costs too.

[colterphoto1]

Unless the foot is resting above the brake pedal, ready for action, I doubt if the mechanical reaction time could be less than the simple rotation of the right foot from accelerator to brake. Then the brain must coordinate the lifting off the accelerator and stepping on the rarely used left foot. This is a recipie for disaster.

Also, resting the foot on the brake pedal might give an erroneous brake light indication to the car behind you, lulling them into thinking you are a crazy old fart who drives with both feet. Then they would possibly not be ready when you really crunch down on the brake and stop your vehicle.

The problem with many drivers imho is that they race up to each stoplight or 4-way, then cram on the brake at the last moment. This not only costs additional fuel and wear on the braking system, but it is uncomfortable for the passengers and possibly dangerous to other drivers ahead of and behind you. Oh, then make sure to jack-rabbit start off of every stop, just to further abuse your vehicle and waste precious fuel.

Personally I 'lift' well in advance of a red light, trying to anticipate the green and eliminating braking altogether when possible. Keep the vehicle speed up and you'll get better mileage and a smoother ride. Easier on the brakes, tires, mileage and nerves.