Left foot braking

[tmm99]

I do the left foot braking and right foot accelerating on up/down hills when I have to stop and go, because I would roll down a hill just a tiny bit if I don't. I thought everyone with an automatic had to do this...

 

[Amethyst]

Interesting. I always wonder who these women are, who can just go around driving any old way, without consequences. Would a smart man really marry a silly woman who doesn't pay attention to her driving?

I think my reactions, etc. are only about average, so I am on the defensive when driving. As my Dad said, "Pretend everyone else on the road is crazy, and you are the only sane one." When I acquired a small sports car, I spent the coin for a 2-day performance driving course, by a former race car driver, on a racetrack. I wanted to know what I was doing. Interestingly, the most useful tip I took away from that course was how to drive in ice and snow. It really came in handy and has helped me avoid accidents.

As a young woman, I learned to drive during a period of high inflation when I had little enough to spend on gas, so I paid attention to gas-saving tips such as "plan your route" and "plan your braking." I consistently get excellent mileage. I once got 120K miles on a single clutch and set of brakes (the rest of the car wore out). feel as if these feckless women drivers you describe, must have always had someone else subsidizing them.

S
The conversation took off on how irritating it was to ride with our wives. There were several "issues" discussed. MY particular pet peeve was my wife's tendency to accelerate until she was forced to stop. IOW On the gas until a crash would occur without vigorous braking. Personally, I've always tried to "play" the traffic, watch the lights ahead, etc. With DW, it's either go or stop. So I said "All women must have learned to drive in a Kiddy Kar. They don't think they are driving unless they are pushing a pedal." My statement (admittedly under a little "influence of wine") got a big round of laughter - from the men. The ladies, especially DW were not pleased. So, I did my best in the future not to criticize DW's driving, though I can't always resist showing her that I get 25mpg and she gets 22 on the same car with similar trips - guess it's just a guy thing.

V

 

[euro]

I see it as a hazard on the road and dislike following a left footed braker, (LFB) as some of them get tired and lightly touch the brake pedal instead of having their foot totally off the brake pedal.

So you see the car doing 70 down the freeway, and the brake light is flashing on, staying on, then off, then on, off , on , off .... etc etc.

Naturally it causes any driver following them to hit the brakes as well, until they learn then they pass the LFB and another person goes through the learning experience.

Plus if they ever truly needed to stop, nobody is going to believe it and could easily rear-end them.

That's the best argument (for or against) LFB I have heard so far

 

[meierlde]

I used the hand brake in those situations, but it applies more to a stick shift...left foot clutch, right foot gas, ease off on the hand brake while letting out the clutch and pressing the gas pedal.

Note that in newer models there is no longer an option to use the parking brake as an emergency brake, as the control is now a knob that you turn to apply the brake. No longer is there a lever to pull. I guess this is partly about with the multiple independent circuits in the service brake, that the brake is now a parking brake only.

 

[Big_Hitter]

chalk this up to (bad) issues with newer model cars:

1) fuel cut (either by high rpm or braking)
2) TMPS sensors
3) Traction control

 

[freedomatlast]

Wow, with all the discussion generated about left foot braking, it would be really interesting to see the amount of discussion generated by heel-and-toe downshifting in a car with manual transmission.

 

[redduck]

I completely agree. It's very unsafe to be going down the road with your brake lights on if you don't intend to brake. It's almost always older people who probably shouldn't be on the road at all..

Where are the elder abuse police when you need them? Keep in mind that "This is a friendly group here." This is not a place to stereotype.

Although, I have noticed the older I get, more people seem to be flipping me off when I drive. When they do this I scream at them that if they had left just two minutes earlier, they would not be stuck driving behind me. This often leads to my getting flipped off again--by the driver and her passengers.

Some people don't plan for the future, get frustrated, and then blame the older generation.

 

[GrayHare]

As my dad got older he increasingly alternated gas-brake-gas-brake which I assume reflected feeling less at ease behind the wheel. This caused me to avoid letting him drive, so I'm not sure if he was using one or two feet. Everyone here knows the left foot is for either the clutch or the brights. I miss that hi-beam floor switch, was easier to access.

My new ride nannies acceleration. Punch the gas and the computer thinks it over for maybe a quarter second before complying but it feels longer. Reminds me of driving an old car that would hestitate. Makes me feel uneasy about getting on the highway, or any situation that can require a quick response.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Obviously we need to come up with some activities Michael can do with his left foot once he stops using it for braking. I'm thinking Honda should move his brights/regular headlights control to the floor (remember that little button that used to be there?)--maybe the windshield wipers control can be moved there too. Or a virtual soccer ball to play with, to improve his left-foot shots, in honor of the Copa and Euro cups.

ETA: I see Grayhare also remembers the headlights control! Great minds etc. etc.

 

[ERD50]

RE: hills and two-footed brake/accelerator -

I'm pretty sure that any car that has this safety (at least intended safety) feature, also has the feature that the brake stays applied at a stop after removing your foot (either foot), until the accelerator can overcome any tendency to roll backwards.

Can anyone confirm?

side note: I wonder if the programmers thought this through and disabled it when you are in Reverse, or reversed the logic. If not, I can imagine the test driver in the first prototype, after checking it out, and it seems OK, and then trying to parallel park it and yelling "Why Can't I back this &^%&^%( thing up!" ​

 

[Just_Steve]

Obviously we need to come up with some activities Michael can do with his left foot once he stops using it for braking.

Get him to drive a bus for a few days.

Turn signals..Left toe actuated.
High beam..Left foot actuated.
Horn..Left heal actuated.
Two way radio..Left heal actuated.
Public adress..Left heal actuated.

Guaranteed that left foot will be too busy to go near the brake pedal.

 

[dadu007]

My deceased father drove his whole life using his left foot for the brake. Probably no surprise since he grew up in San Francisco...

 

[eytonxav]

It's actually been a problem for me. Pulling out into (or across) fast moving traffic, the car suddenly stops accelerating and slows very quickly. Pushing the accelerator down strongly will overcome this, but only after significant engine hesitation. Not fun in urban traffic.

At first I thought it was a defect in my car, especially after seeing other similar complaints. I noticed, however, that it happened most frequently when accelerating from standstill, and it didn't always happen. A little experimenting and I identified the brake pedal as the "driving force". A little more experimenting confirmed it.

One of these days I'll post over at one of the Honda forums, see what they say. First, though, I'll direct my declining cognitive abilities toward retraining my right foot.

That sounds terrible. I wonder if there is a way to disable this. I can remember having to disconnect the 2nd and 3rd gear lockout feature that came on the Corvette. It was supposedly to increase gas mileage.

 

[ls99]

Cutting off throttle if foot is on brake would be a major PITA for me. I drive in very hilly areas. In my old pickup w/ manual tranny heel and toe was used often to avoid roolback problems, or enhance speed through curves...

With auto tranny when stopped on steep hill I left foot brake, with no throttle applied. To get going apply throttle and release brake. Thus avoiding the roll back which would happen. The roollback happens while moving the usual left foot braking to the throttle thus the transmission has extra load to reverse the rollback and then go forward. It is hard on the torque converter.

There are many other situations for example where edging close to a steep dropoff where left foot braking comes very handy. I often drag logs out of gulleys, or off of steep hillsides, going either forward or backwards uphill. Or hauling a load of wood on steep roads.


+1 for BigHitter's list
Since I will buying a new to me GMC truck in the near future, that is one thing I'll check for. I sure don't need a manufacturer defeat a very useful feature to me. Hopefully GM has not gone with Hondas "feature". Bad enough to put up with TPMS and other mandated fixes for stoopids.

 

[Texas Proud]

That sounds terrible. I wonder if there is a way to disable this. I can remember having to disconnect the 2nd and 3rd gear lockout feature that came on the Corvette. It was supposedly to increase gas mileage.

Just to clarify, it was to increase gas mileage based on the gvmts requirements so there was no gas guzzler tax... from what I remember about it, the fix was pretty simple, but I could be wrong...

 

[jazz4cash]

Two foot drivers is one of my pet peeves. I can spot them in traffic and can't stand to ride with them. FYI I do live and drive in DC except my commuting days are history. Two foot driving was a major deficiency when I took a defensive driving course. Modern cars use a brake input signal for all sorts of things that don't work right if you're driving with two feet unless you have manual transmission.


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[jazz4cash]

A lot of cars use a hill hold feature that keeps the brakes applied for 3 seconds or so to prevent rollback. It s pretty subtle. I didn't know my last company car had that feature until I read it in the owners manual. Rollback is not hard on the torque converter but it's a safety feature.


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[MichaelB]

Two foot drivers is one of my pet peeves. I can spot them in traffic and can't stand to ride with them. FYI I do live and drive in DC except my commuting days are history. Two foot driving was a major deficiency when I took a defensive driving course. Modern cars use a brake input signal for all sorts of things that don't work right if you're driving with two feet unless you have manual transmission.

Well, I'm six feet, so no worries there. Gosh, a two foot driver would need a specially modified car to get around. Otherwise they'd never be able to reach the pedals.

 

[jazz4cash]

Maybe a secondary hand throttle could be a solution.


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[REWahoo]

Well, I'm six feet, so no worries there. Gosh, a two foot driver would need a specially modified car to get around. Otherwise they'd never be able to reach the pedals.

+1

Plus they really hate this song...

 

[eytonxav]

Just to clarify, it was to increase gas mileage based on the gvmts requirements so there was no gas guzzler tax... from what I remember about it, the fix was pretty simple, but I could be wrong...

I am not sure if it was to get around the gas guzzler tax on the vette or to improve the overall mileage average of Chevy's vehicles. Anyway, those C5 vettes got pretty good gas mileage, except mine had a stroker motor in it which hurt a bit. Yes, the fix was easy, just a plug disconnect underneath by the tranny.

 

[Music Lover]

Note that in newer models there is no longer an option to use the parking brake as an emergency brake, as the control is now a knob that you turn to apply the brake. No longer is there a lever to pull. I guess this is partly about with the multiple independent circuits in the service brake, that the brake is now a parking brake only.

I test drove new car a few weeks ago and the hand brake had been replaced with a parking brake button. I guess the "emergency brake" will soon be a memory.

 

[MichaelB]

Never heard of it, and I was wondering if it was a defect too. But evidently not, started around 2011 in some cars All U.S. Honda Vehicles To Get Brake Overrides By Next Year a feature that might be helpful 1% of the time and a PITA the other 99%? Never noticed but I wonder if my 2012 has it?

This is a helpful link that explains what is happening. Thanks!

 

[Sunset]

chalk this up to (bad) issues with newer model cars:

1) fuel cut (either by high rpm or braking)
2) TMPS sensors
3) Traction control

4) plastic bumpers replacing the old chrome ones....... now when you swipe some pedestrian standing too close to the corner curb it dents your bumper and the blood stains are hard to get out, unlike chrome that didn't dent and windex would clean in 1 squirt.

 

[Sunset]

Never heard of it, and I was wondering if it was a defect too. But evidently not, started around 2011 in some cars All U.S. Honda Vehicles To Get Brake Overrides By Next Year a feature that might be helpful 1% of the time and a PITA the other 99%? Never noticed but I wonder if my 2012 has it?

Interesting, of course now I'm going to have to try it out on my new 2015 Toyota to see if it has it.

I know it has traction control as I was in a icy place and took off from the stoplight and the car started to move sideways, then felt weird as I steered into the skid, and suddenly I was back on track...