How many feet do you use while driving?

[Gaaz]

You are a fine example of what I am talking about.

Don't rest your foot on the brake pedal, your brake lights are on, this is counterproductive for everyone. If you are not resting your foot on the brake pedal then it is the same as moving your foot from the accelerator to the brake, isn't it? and if you know how to drive NONE of this should be a "conscious" decision. If you are really so flummoxed by this action and you have one foot per pedal then in a "tense situation" you are going to do one of my favorite things more than likely. 100% throttle 100% brake. Happens a fair bit in accidents, just mashing the accelerator.

No idea why would the brake lights be on if you rest your foot on the pedal without actually pressing it. Granted, I only drove a BMW 318i, Mercedes 550sl, a Subaru Forester and a Toyota Land Cruiser equipped with automatics, but you could comfortably keep your foot on the pedal without engaging your brake lights in all of them. I mean, if you press AND engage your clutch pedal on a manual all the time while driving, you will burn through it in no time. The same logic applies here - you can rest your foot on a pedal and engage it only when needed. It then becomes very natural one foot for braking, one for acceleration. It should also be natural for anyone riding a motorcycle or a sports car and is quite logical.
The speed difference between one foot and two foot setup should not be a debate either.
There is a danger of pressing both pedals simultaneously. But a decision of lifting your foot from one pedal, moving it and pressing on another pedal is more complex, and thus more problematic in more stressful situations. I know that this is not 100% applicable to cars, but if someone removes right hand from the brake lever during a motorcycle exam, that is an automatic failure on any advanced riding course.
Even IF we take your example of pressing both pedals simultaneously in a stressful situation, by the same logic if a person keeps only one foot on the gas pedal, he is going to engage it just the same, while doing basically nothing with the other foot. So this is a choice between engaging 100% throttle, vs 100% throttle and 100% brake. And FYI, some manufacturers are using systems that account for these mistakes and if brakes and throttle engage simultaneously, throttle is disengaged automatically. Meaning clearly that they are considering this mode of driving not as an oddity, but as a proper technique. As it should be. For example:
https://www.businessinsider.com/brak...tandard-2012-5
It is also going to be mandatory safety system for the US sold vehicles in the very near future
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKCN1SJ1UL
The main reason why it was not enforced yet in terms of legislation is that practically all manufacturers already use this system in cars produced over the past 10 year period.

In 2012, NHTSA found that not all manufacturers had committed to making a brake-throttle override standard on their models, but upon revisiting the subject in 2019, the Trump administration discovered that all automakers doing business in the US now feature the technology as standard.

"NHTSA is withdrawing a notice of proposed rule-making published in 2012 that would have established a new mandate for brake throttle override systems and modified requirements for electronic throttle controls systems," a NHTSA representative told Roadshow. "In making this decision, NHTSA considered public comments received in response to the proposed rule, including that brake throttle override is now standard on 100% of new passenger vehicles and light trucks. While NHTSA has determined that regulatory action is not needed at this time, the agency will continue to focus on the safety of vehicles and the traveling public."

[Orange Joe]

No idea why would the brake lights be on if you rest your foot on the pedal without actually pressing it. Granted, I only drove a BMW 318i, Mercedes 550sl, a Subaru Forester and a Toyota Land Cruiser equipped with automatics, but you could comfortably keep your foot on the pedal without engaging your brake lights in all of them. I mean, if you press AND engage your clutch pedal on a manual all the time while driving, you will burn through it in no time. The same logic applies here - you can rest your foot on a pedal and engage it only when needed. It then becomes very natural one foot for braking, one for acceleration. It should also be natural for anyone riding a motorcycle or a sports car and is quite logical.
The speed difference between one foot and two foot setup should not be a debate either.
There is a danger of pressing both pedals simultaneously. But a decision of lifting your foot from one pedal, moving it and pressing on another pedal is more complex, and thus more problematic in more stressful situations. I know that this is not 100% applicable to cars, but if someone removes right hand from the brake lever during a motorcycle exam, that is an automatic failure on any advanced riding course.
Even IF we take your example of pressing both pedals simultaneously in a stressful situation, by the same logic if a person keeps only one foot on the gas pedal, he is going to engage it just the same, while doing basically nothing with the other foot. So this is a choice between engaging 100% throttle, vs 100% throttle and 100% brake. And FYI, some manufacturers are using systems that account for these mistakes and if brakes and throttle engage simultaneously, throttle is disengaged automatically. Meaning clearly that they are considering this mode of driving not as an oddity, but as a proper technique. As it should be. For example:
https://www.businessinsider.com/brak...tandard-2012-5
It is also going to be mandatory safety system for the US sold vehicles in the very near future
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKCN1SJ1UL
The main reason why it was not enforced yet in terms of legislation is that practically all manufacturers already use this system in cars produced over the past 10 year period.

Wait you think someone can't still freeze and only press the gas when driving with 2 feet?

[Gaaz]

Wait you think someone can't still freeze and only press the gas when driving with 2 feet?

They can, read my response fully. But it is basically the same as freezing while having only one foot on the gas pedal. And practically ALL US sold vehicles now have safety system that disengages throttle under these circumstances. With all but two decade old vehicles this "issue" becomes "freezing while having your throttle pressed 100%" vs "freezing while having brakes pressed 100% while the throttle is automatically disengaged"

[omeomorfismo]

how im suppoused to push 3 pedals with just 1 feet?

[Daedius]

3 .

[Syri79]

When driving a manual (most of the time) 2 feet, automatic only 1.
If you're used to driving, your actions with your feet should be pretty much instinctual, so even using 1 foot in an automatic should see you go to the correct pedal in emergencies. If you learn in a manual, you'll probably instinctually use 1 foot in an automatic anyway. I can't speak for people who learn in and only ever drive automatics, but for myself I know I don't even think about which pedal I need.
A side note of learning in a manual, the first time I drove an automatic my instinct on approaching a junction was to press the clutch... didn't make that mistake again!

[Orange Joe]

They can, read my response fully. But it is basically the same as freezing while having only one foot on the gas pedal. And practically ALL US sold vehicles now have safety system that disengages throttle under these circumstances. With all but two decade old vehicles this "issue" becomes "freezing while having your throttle pressed 100%" vs "freezing while having brakes pressed 100% while the throttle is automatically disengaged"

No you didn't read what I'm saying. Someone driving with 2 feet can still panic and only hit the gas not hitting the brake. Which won't engage the safety system you are talking about.

[Gaaz]

No you didn't read what I'm saying. Someone driving with 2 feet can still panic and only hit the gas not hitting the brake. Which won't engage the safety system you are talking about.

That is a hell of a straw you are pulling. He indeed can. But what is more likely (and quicker) in a panic situation - lifting your foot from the throttle, moving it over brakes and pressing them, or just slamming everything down with both feet? Your argument is based on an extremely unlikely, and frankly weird situation that a panicked person will selectively press on throttle and do nothing with the other foot, even though both of his feet are on pedals. That is akin of saying "what if he has paralysis of his left side". Yeah, in this extremely unlikely scenario those systems will not help. But having no foot on the brake pedal will not help either - he still will press the throttle pedal only. So it makes no difference.
The left foot on the brake method at least gives him an ability to just slam everything down with both feet, without wasting any time by thinking. As long as his left side is not paralyzed that is.

[Biglog]

The results to this question will vary depending on if you are in the US or EU. EU has far (far) more manual transmission cars, a by-product of them being slightly better on gas mileage and gas prices per liter in the EU being a lot higher than per gallon in the US. In the past, manual transmission cars were also less expensive. That's kind of changed over time, a manual or auto transmission cost to the manufacturer nowadays is about the same. In the US, there are some around but it's rare to see new manual transmission cars in the US outside of sportscars. Saving a tad of fuel with lower gas prices in the US isn't a concern, and auto cars have become so prevalent that the majority of people in the US don't know how to drive manuals. Also, it makes it difficult for a couple or friends to share a car if one person knows how to drive manual but the other does not. So they tend to go with autos to not have to worry about it. If you've ever had a three-on-the-tree manual transmission car, those are even more wild. Most people today would not have any clue how to drive one of those, and they were still being made in the 1970's.

So that's why there is a different perspective on this topic depending where you are from, but overall it's pretty straightforward that most people use 2 feet for driving a manual, 1 for autos.

[Forogil]

The results to this question will vary depending on if you are in the US or EU. EU has far (far) more manual transmission cars, a by-product of them being slightly better on gas mileage and gas prices per liter in the EU being a lot higher than per gallon in the US. In the past, manual transmission cars were also less expensive. That's kind of changed over time, a manual or auto transmission cost to the manufacturer nowadays is about the same.

Yes, and we also have the increase of electric and/or hybrid cars that normally have automatic transmissions.

And then there's cruise control so even if you are ready to use one feet you don't have to use it most of the time.

[Afrospinach]

Meaning clearly that they are considering this mode of driving not as an oddity, but as a proper technique.

Yeah no.

Should you make use of all the emergency features of your car? You have a forward collision detection system in most cars now, should you not press the brake pedal because it is there? Why do they manufacture foot rests?

Stick to the motor cycles mate.

Honestly though, this is EXACTLY the kind of mental masturbation I expect from a computer/gaming forum lol.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/l...-an-automatic/

Put your right foot on the left-hand pedal (the brake) and push down, start the car using the key or start button, and (with your foot still on the brake), move the shifter to ‘D’ (if you want to drive forward) or ‘R’ (if you wish to reverse).

https://www.wikihow.com/Drive-a-Car-...c-Transmission

Start the car. Place your right foot on the brake pedal and push it down, then insert the key and turn it clockwise to start the vehicle.

https://carfromjapan.com/article/dri...nsmission-car/

With new drivers, they might have some difficulties. But it is actually pretty easy: You will only use your right foot to control both of them, while your left foot will remain at rest all the time.

Should I continue? This is what you are going to learn from driving school.

Rhetorical question btw. We are done here. I could not find a single result that indulges your opinion in the slightest over several pages of search results.

[Forogil]

Oh, regarding the problem with people panicking and pressing the wrong pedal there's one elegant solution: just have one pedal.
You cannot press the wrong pedal if there's only one pedal!

Seriously!

The idea is that you accelerate by angling your foot in the normal way, and brake by pressing down the pedal (or slamming it in case of emergency).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZX3...nnel=KrunalRaj
(which links to expired patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP0877977B1/en )

[Adamas102]

The correct way. One foot (automatic).

I only had one friend back in high school that used 2 feet and consequently was the worst driver of all of us.

[cuafpr]

auto - 1 foot, manual 2 feet. how it should be!

[Gaaz]

Yeah no.

Should you make use of all the emergency features of your car? You have a forward collision detection system in most cars now, should you not press the brake pedal because it is there? Why do they manufacture foot rests?

Stick to the motor cycles mate.

Honestly though, this is EXACTLY the kind of mental masturbation I expect from a computer/gaming forum lol.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/l...-an-automatic/



https://www.wikihow.com/Drive-a-Car-...c-Transmission



https://carfromjapan.com/article/dri...nsmission-car/



Should I continue? This is what you are going to learn from driving school.

Rhetorical question btw. We are done here. I could not find a single result that indulges your opinion in the slightest over several pages of search results.

Yeah, you remind me of my grandma - "we always used to clean kettles with lemon juice, no need to buy cleaning powders. They will make holes." And while I can understand hard coding by the age of 90, this inflexibility of someone who thinks of himself as a final authority on the subject makes me cringe.
This is Wyatt Knox, an instructor from Team O'Neal Driving school. He explains why left foot braking is a good idea not only on a racetrack, and not only on a manual transmission, but in everyday life with automatics as well:

In case anyone in particular is too lazy to go through it, here are some key points:

1. It's more likely that you'll hit the correct pedal. In an emergency situation, it's easy to hit the wrong pedal without thinking. Having your left foot already over the brake minimizes the chance of a mistake.
2. Advantages of left-foot brake on the street is that it reduces response time in an emergency. It takes less time to start braking when your left foot is hovering over the pedal than it does to move your right foot from the throttle to brake.
3. Left-braking allows you to keep your right foot hovering over the throttle at all times, making it easier to accelerate and avoid a potential dangerous situation.
4. Keeping one foot over each pedal also allows for more precise application of both brakes and throttle. Again, it's about economy of motion. Instead of having to move your right foot and get it situated over the pedal, you're just making small adjustments. That allows for smoother throttle and brake application.

On a related note, the "Cars Gone Wild: The Major Contributor to Unintended Acceleration in Automobiles is Pedal Error" article found more than 3,000 cases of people crashing in North Carolina alone because they confused pedals with their right foot, pressing throttle instead of brakes. And most happened during normal, unhurried conditions in which the driver simply touched the wrong pedal and kept pressing it harder, thinking it was the brake. The author was surprised to find that an average driver touched the wrong pedal surprisingly often. "An error might generally occur once every half-hour, or every hour," he told NPR in 2010.

The basic idea is that by using two feet to drive — one for the accelerator and one for the brake — drivers will be less likely to use the wrong pedal by accident. Because you don't need to maneuver your right foot back and forth, you reduce the chance of an inaccurate placement. Each foot just hovers over a pedal, pressing straight down when needed. (And if somehow your left foot hovered over too far to the right, it would be pretty obvious because it would likely hit your right foot.)

[s_bushido]

This is Wyatt Knox, an instructor from Team O'Neal Driving school. He explains why left foot braking is a good idea not only on a racetrack, and not only on a manual transmission, but in everyday life with automatics as well:

"...making your drive to work a little more interesting."

Yeah, no. Fuck that. The last thing we need is people being "interesting" on the road.

Leave that shit for when you're driving like a lunatic on some back road with literally nothing around but trees and dirt.

[Elegiac]

This is Wyatt Knox, an instructor from Team O'Neal Driving school. He explains why left foot braking is a good idea not only on a racetrack, and not only on a manual transmission, but in everyday life with automatics as well:

Uh huh. Now can he actually replicate these results with people who are not professional drivers, and is there any evidence that the cons of left-foot braking wouldn't produce a similar risk of accidents if generally applied besides this dude's word and "accidents happen under the existing model therefore alternatives must be better"?

The real galaxy brain take is realising driving is a qualified skill and a lot of people who do it, shouldn't. Rather than kvetching as to how many feet they use we should be concerned with why they aren't using their feet on safer modes of transport.

[Gaaz]

"...making your drive to work a little more interesting."

Yeah, no. Fuck that. The last thing we need is people being "interesting" on the road.

Leave that shit for when you're driving like a lunatic on some back road with literally nothing around but trees and dirt.

Uh huh. Now can he actually replicate these results with people who are not professional drivers, and is there any evidence that the cons of left-foot braking wouldn't produce a similar risk of accidents if generally applied besides this dude's word and "accidents happen under the existing model therefore alternatives must be better"?

The real galaxy brain take is realising driving is a qualified skill and a lot of people who do it, shouldn't. Rather than kvetching as to how many feet they use we should be concerned with why they aren't using their feet on safer modes of transport.

Sure, lets ignore everything and stick to one phrase he said in the video.
You realize that this method of driving is actually safer? Always having control over brakes AND throttle is by the very definition a safer method than having alternate control. Someone taught everyone to ride on a bicycle with kiddie wheels to assist them from falling. But if you ride long enough, you will eventually realize that those kiddie wheels prevent you from leaning your bike and effectively stop you from turning at any speed above walking pace without twisting yourself into a pretzel. The same applies here. People should learn it. Everyone who drives a motorcycle already uses this method without even realizing it. Because motorcyclists are not protected by steel cages, every little bit of safety helps. And always having control over brakes helps immensely. This should be applied to cars. No, must be applied to cars. All that is stopping it is the inertial thinking of some old school instructors who do not realize that car developers already solved mechanical issues with this driving method in civilian cars and this backward thinking actually does more harm than good. Like teaching someone to hop on one leg instead of walking or running, just in case someone gets their feet confused and falls over. After all, if you use only one leg, there is nothing to be confused about, right...

[Elegiac]

You realize that this method of driving is actually safer? Always having control over brakes AND throttle is by the very definition a safer method than having alternate control.

Assuming people are ambidextrous and have a good level of individual limb control, sure. Most aren't.

omeone taught everyone to ride on a bicycle with kiddie wheels to assist them from falling. But if you ride long enough, you will eventually realize that those kiddie wheels prevent you from leaning your bike and effectively stop you from turning at any speed above walking pace without twisting yourself into a pretzel.

Which is a bad analogy because single-foot driving doesn't actually impede the function of the vehicle in the same way training wheels do with a bicycle, y'all are just touting (marginal) safety gains. The equivalent here would be disabling a speed limitation in your car.

Everyone who drives a motorcycle already uses this method without even realizing it.

Nooooooooo, they don't. They would be if left-foot braking involved the brakes being on the wheel.

Again, this is a bad comparison.

[Santti]

Huh. I've never even considered someone might do it differently. I drive manual, and you use 2 feet. Left is only for the clutch, and right is for either gas or brakes.

Resting your feet on the brakes just doesn't seem right. Don't you have to keep your foot somewhat tense then, so you don't keep engaging the brakes for nothing? I can imagine people behind you are certainly delighted when you keep flashing brake lights at them.

Just don't drive so damn close to the car infront of you, and you don't need the potentially marginal gain from resting your foot on the brakes.

I'd imagine with automatic, the left foot does nothing while driving. Might as well as only have 1 foot, for all it would matter.