Left foot braking with automatics

[skodatezzer]

Just wish I could find a reliable way of ensuring that, when I drive an automatic, I won't at some point stand the thing on its nose by by going for a non-existent clutch pedal and finding the brake instead. Could always tie me left shoelace to the seat-frame, I suppose.

[Gareth]

Position your left foot under your right leg.

[TheInsanity1234]

Just wish I could find a reliable way of ensuring that, when I drive an automatic, I won't at some point stand the thing on its nose by by going for a non-existent clutch pedal and finding the brake instead. Could always tie me left shoelace to the seat-frame, I suppose.

You could just tuck your left foot under the seat.

Another one would be to just superglue your shoe to the carpet, but that may prove difficult when you get to the other end

[skodatezzer]

@ Gareth and the Insane One. Tried all that (except the superglue). You'd be amazed how mobile a left foot can be in a moment of real or perceived crisis.

[fungus]

Just wish I could find a reliable way of ensuring that, when I drive an automatic, I won't at some point stand the thing on its nose by by going for a non-existent clutch pedal and finding the brake instead. Could always tie me left shoelace to the seat-frame, I suppose.

+1

I just don't like automatics, in fact I hate them. I always feel that they're controlling me, and I don't feel that I'm in full controll of the car. The clutch is such a usefull device.

Nigel.

[Silk]

@ Gareth and the Insane One. Tried all that (except the superglue). You'd be amazed how mobile a left foot can be in a moment of real or perceived crisis.

It just goes to show how much we rely on habit and muscle memory as much as anything else whilst driving. It's the reason I prefer to have only one "tool" for each driving task. I prefer "hazard-stop" to" hazard-need to brake-how do I brake?-brake-stop". Thinking about it just wastes time.

Left-foot braking, heel-n-toe, double-declutch, etc. are a bit like rusty old spanners - I could probably find a use for one if I tried, but they're mostly taking up space in the toolbox.

With regards to driving autos, I find the tucking the left leg works for me and have so far had no issues - electric handbrakes, however...

[Silk]

Why go to all the trouble of practicing something that's completely unnecessary?

Do you use the same criteria for choosing (and/or preparing) what you eat?

Don't be ridiculous.

I like this story so I'm going to tell it.

Many years ago we employed a young fellow as a contractor for a year or so in our office. He was a rather dull dog, although I believe he was good at his job. Upon chatting to him about food one day, some of my colleagues were interested to hear about his food shopping. Every <insert day here> he would go to his nearest supermarket, buy two loaves of bread, and a kilo of cheddar, and they would form the basis of his diet for the next week. Rinse and repeat every 7 days. They expressed some concern for him regarding this rather limited diet, and told him he should be getting more variety, fruit, etc. So he mended his ways. From that day on, he went to the supermarket every <insert day here> and purchased two loaves of bread, a kilo of cheddar, and seven apples ...

Yawn. Relevance?

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

Yawn. Relevance?

I imagine your shopping and menu are very similar to his.

[waremark]

Left-foot braking, heel-n-toe, double-declutch, etc. are a bit like rusty old spanners - I could probably find a use for one if I tried, but they're mostly taking up space in the toolbox.

Not really a very good analogy. Why would you use a rusty old spanner if you had a shiny new one? These are techniques which help perform some aspects of the driving task better than the tried and tested more common techniques - as such a better analogy would be to have a shiny new spanner in your toolbox, in addition to the rusty old one you were quite happy with.

And of course the toolbox of driving skills is of infinite size.

[waremark]

From experience, I suggest that changing from right foot braking to left foot braking and getting to the point where you not only do it smoothly, but also instinctively and needing no more conscious thought than braking the way you used to, takes quite a lot of practice.

Why go to all the trouble of practicing something that's completely unnecessary?

Like avoidance of brake gear overlap, accurate positioning on the road, steering smoothly and the other aspects of advanced driving, do you mean? Anyone who can pass their driving test can get around reasonably safely, so all these aspects are entirely unnecessary.

In my case, for the same reason. I develop my driving to the highest standard I can in the same way that an amateur musician might try to play his instrument as well as he can.