Really? You tried them all? Berkley High in 1966? The cars we learned on had automatics. I actually didn't learn to drive a manual until college.
Seriously, I remember being taught left foot braking in driver's ed and I've done it all my life. I don't know where I would have learned it otherwise. But it will take more than a statement like that to invalidate my memory. We may have to decide we can't convince each other.
Douglas Johnson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
IF..... the problem is that people DONT avoid them. also,under stress,people revert back to learned habits(y'know;practice,practice,practice),and you have not established ONE braking habit,but two,that HAS to be chosen,which is NOT a reflex.
How do you KNOW -you- aren't riding the brake?
I've never heard of driver's ed teaching left-foot braking. That would be very confusing for an inexperienced driver,in addition to all the other new stuff they have to learn.
Douglas Johnson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Because you want to develop the HABIT of right foot braking as you would on a stick shift car,so you do the same thing all the time,developing a REFLEX that you naturally revert to in an emergency,no matter which type you're driving,no thought needed.
I was failed for using my left foot on my driver's test because the car had a tendancy to stall occaisionally coming to a stop - 1968 Rebel. When I explained why I did it they said fix the car.
Judging by this 1964 article, it may well have been true. I do recall discussions about it but we did not have driver's ed in school so I don't know what our state did back then. This is also backed up by the last cite below.
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states encourage left-foot braking (among them, South Dakota and Michigan); some disqualify or penalize any license applicant who does it (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Utah). Most states have no policy at all. And there is, in fact, something to be said for both sides-or both feet.
Read more:
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Road use Many commentators advise against the use of left-foot braking while driving on public roads.[7][8]
However, some commentators do recommend left-foot braking as routine practice when driving vehicles fitted with an automatic transmission, when maneuvering at low speeds.[9]
Proponents of the technique note that in low-speed maneuvers, a driver of a vehicle with a manual transmission will usually keep a foot poised over the clutch pedal, ready to disengage power when the vehicle nears an obstacle. This means that disengagement is also possible in the event of malfunction such as an engine surge. However, the absence of a clutch on a vehicle with automatic transmission means that there is no such safety override, unless the driver has a foot poised over the brake pedal.[9]
Critics of the technique suggest that it can cause confusion when switching to or from a vehicle with a manual transmission,[7] and that it is difficult to achieve the necessary sensitivity to brake smoothly when your left foot is used to operating a clutch pedal.[8]
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Scott, I am a retired Driving Instructor. I am almost 70 and took to Left Foot Braking about 15 years ago. Taught few students LFB including my two children. I believe if we can convince Insurance companies that they will save very big by way of claims that might have a great impact. Trying to talk to Driving Schools is something I have not had any luck with. How do we (You and I) go about it. I am very passionate about this. Regards Enver Khorasanee
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I'm 79 years old and took driving lessons in 1950, when my instructor told me to use my left foot to brake and right foot to accelerate. I also was told to pump the brake pedal four or five times before stopping on slippery roads to assure the best braking. My driving record is excellent. But during a recent driver's license test, I was told to use my right foot for both braking and accelerating. There is nothing in the Illinois Rules of the Road book that says a driver must brake with the right foot, is there? --P.B., Chicago
A. If accustomed to braking with your left foot after more than 50 years, keep using it for braking.
FWIW, I began driving a tractor (clutch) at 10 and cars at 12. That was in the 50's. I learned to use my left foot for the clutch and right for brake and throttle. In the 80's, I taught my kids the same thing-first on a John Deere and then a car. IMHO, there is no reason, and is a cause for possible harm, to teach a person to do otherwise. Sure, the Driver Ed-mobiles and many cars now have autos, but what good does it to to teach a reaction to kids that could get them killed when they move up to a manual transmission eventually?
My father has used his left foot for the brake for as long as I can remember. He's driven automatics for about the last sixty years. He told me that he used to wonder if he'd be as quick getting onto the pedal with his left foot as with his right -- then one day, years ago, somebody pulled out in front of him on US 31; he said after he got the car stopped, he realized he had *both* feet on the brake.
I don't either but do vaguely recall discussions in the driving oriented magazines about it back then. Most of them were in the sport and racing mags though.
Douglas Johnson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
using left foot for braking makes it possible for one to apply both brakes and throttle at the same time. In most cases,outside of the track,this is not good.
Besides,just because a state or states "encourages" something does not make it right or proper. States are not any authority on driving techniques. That "encouragement" could merely derive from some bureaucrat of the same bent as you guys.
IMO,operating differently depending on what car you're using means you aren't developing the reflex or habit that people revert to under emergencies.Thus,you could,under pressure,use the wrong foot at a critical time.
Amen to that. I switch between a Ford 500 auto and an 89 F150 manual everything and get confused on the cruis controls particulary and have been known to try to get into gear in the f150 without using the clutch.
By the same authority, it doesn't make it wrong. I was just using it to confirm my memory that my Michigan driver's ed taught left foot braking.
This could be a problem, but hasn't for me. I own both automatics and manuals. I move between them regularly. I brake with the appropriate foot without thinking about it, even in an emergency. I've *never* screwed it up.
I'm kind of surprised at the amount of controversy this has stirred up. It's clear I'm in the minority here and on the net. That's OK. In any case, I'm done with this topic.
Up here in Elmira Ontario 1968 was the first year you could take Driver's Ed on an automatic in the highschool program. I learned on a standard Pontiac.
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