Articles on left foot breaking vs right foot breaking

[dougdoberman]

I have a friend who has a terrible habit of braking with his left foot (in an automatic). He has almost had several dangerous accidents as a result. I dare not step in a car with him anymore.

How, exactly, has this almost caused accidents?

It seems more likely that your friend is just a crappy driver in the first place. Don't blame it on left foot braking.

Further more there is no reason to do it IRL when not racing. And you don't race an automatic anyway, so unless you heel and toe your manual everyday car..
Also, why would you want to have your left foot on the brake pedal all the time instead of relaxing it at the foot rest? Are you anticipating an accident? ^^

Do you drive in traffic much? Rush hour traffic around a major city?

I don't ALWAYS drive with my left foot covering the brake, but it's there in certain situations. In others, I brake with my right foot.

When fractions of a second can result in tens of feet further distance traveled, I want to get my brakes activated as quickly as humanly possible.

I've avoided accidents both in real life driving and on a race track that I can pretty much guarantee wouldn't have been avoided if I'd had to get my foot off the throttle and onto the brake.

It's not for everyone. Some people won't do it enough to be comfortable. Some will simply never have the coordination. But it works for some of us and we prefer it that way.

 

[JeronimoM]

I've never been on a track, so I can't say for sure, but on the road going to school everyday I normally just Right foot brake. The only time I left foot brake is to hold it down while I ready my right foot to hit the gas when entering a freeway with the meter on. My 10 seconds of glory...

 

[Ishie]

Do you drive in traffic much? Rush hour traffic around a major city?

I don't ALWAYS drive with my left foot covering the brake, but it's there in certain situations. In others, I brake with my right foot.

When fractions of a second can result in tens of feet further distance traveled, I want to get my brakes activated as quickly as humanly possible.

I've avoided accidents both in real life driving and on a race track that I can pretty much guarantee wouldn't have been avoided if I'd had to get my foot off the throttle and onto the brake.

It's not for everyone. Some people won't do it enough to be comfortable. Some will simply never have the coordination. But it works for some of us and we prefer it that way.

I live in Sweden, what makes you think we have any major cities? There are US cities with a higher population than Sweden's entire population
I mean sure, we have cities with bad traffic, but not That bad.. Also, I've never driven in any of our 4 biggest cities.. Or ten biggest probably.
edit/ The biggest city I've ever driven in is probably where I live, around 150k people or so. But really, how would the size of the city affect your breaking? I don't see any correlation at all I'm afraid. Are you saying people drive differently *just because* the city is of X size? I'll say this though. I hate driving in cities.. Start, stop, start, stop..

 

[dougdoberman]

I live in Sweden, what makes you think we have any major cities? There are US cities with a higher population than Sweden's entire population
I mean sure, we have cities with bad traffic, but not That bad.. Also, I've never driven in any of our 4 biggest cities.. Or ten biggest probably.
edit/ The biggest city I've ever driven in is probably where I live, around 150k people or so. But really, how would the size of the city affect your breaking? I don't see any correlation at all I'm afraid. Are you saying people drive differently *just because* the city is of X size? I'll say this though. I hate driving in cities.. Start, stop, start, stop..

I'm saying that when driving in rush hour traffic surrounded by dozens of cars all doing 80mph with mostly extremely unskilled drivers at the wheel, half of them talking on their cell phones, and with traffic constantly jostling due to on / off ramps every 1/4 mile or so, you want to keep the brake covered much of the time.

Plus, the hassle of that start, stop, start stop is lessened just a LITTLE bit if you don't have to constantly move your right foot back and forth to do it.

 

[McLaren]

How, exactly, has this almost caused accidents?

It seems more likely that your friend is just a crappy driver in the first place. Don't blame it on left foot braking.

Because most people can not cope with a split second decision of what foot to press when the time comes b/c they simply aren't used to it.

You should never have to left foot brake in traffic anyways. Using it as a "safety net" shows who the "crappy driver" is b/c if you were paying attention to the cars in front of you, you should already be anticipating when to brake.

And the time you "save" from not having to move your foot off the gas to the brake will make no difference unless you're just really slow.

 

[apex28del]

When I drove single-sprocket microds quite a few years ago, as part of a training league, we had been instructed that either technique was certainly acceptable, but each has its own drawbacks. LFB, in my experience, was barely faster and caused less fatigue (especially during the 50-lap oval-track feature races), but RFB prevented unintentional drag braking, which could make a massive difference in a 9 hp machine. Of course, manual transmissions are a completely different story, and should be treated as such. I also drove a car with hand controls for a season 👍 . I firmly believe that each technique has its own unique advantages and disadvantages.

 

[WolfRacer543]

In real life on the street I always right foot brake. Given I drive a manual. Even driving an auto I was always brought up to right foot brake. Not sure how true it is, but I was taught in an emergency you're less likely to screw up and hit the wrong pedal if you right foot brake... doesn't really make sense but its what people taught me.

On the track, depends... the only race car I've driven on a track didn't have a clutch pedal. It was an open wheeler, a manual, but the clutch was on the shift lever. The nose didn't have enough foot space to right foot brake, so you MUST left foot brake in it. Its technically a manual cable driven clutch, but the positioning of the clutch lever on the shifter meant you'd automatically trigger the clutch when down shifting, allowing for really fast changes, and you wouldn't use the clutch at all for upshifts at all.

Of course thats an open wheeler though. I've never driven a production car on a track... they're too slow for my liking

 

[jC...]

When I use to do short track stock car racing, I was a left foot braker. Its easier to keep RPM's up by not having to remove my foot from the the accelerator pedal. I could still drive through the corner at 1/4 throtte and use the brake. On the street though, right foot all the way.

 

[Patrocles]

Oh you Yanks and your Autos xD

Manual all the way, right foot braking.

yeah, we yanks are lazy with the AT! LOL
I am in the minority since all of my cars have been manual tranny!
iibc, someone said only about 5% of cars sold in 2010 in the U.S. were MT(?)

Manual FTW and right-foot braking in RL with left-foot for clutch. Left-foot braking in racing sims and GT5 (I have a DFP with no clutch pedal ATT).

 

[Apollo33]

My dad and I are logical people, so he taught me to LFB in automatics and we laughed at all the fools with their rules against it. "In an emergency you're less likely to press the wrong pedal" is a really dumb argument. If your left foot is always the brake, and your right foot is always the gas, then you know if you need to brake fast you're pushing the left foot down! Whereas with RFB in an emergency, you might easily hit the wrong pedal or possibly hit both pedals in your hurry to get to the brake.

Unfortunately, I can't LFB anymore when I drive automatics 'cause I've lost left-foot-sensitivity to my manual car. I've tried it a few times since then in an automatic and it wasn't pretty.

 

[McLaren]

My dad and I are logical people, so he taught me to LFB in automatics and we laughed at all the fools with their rules against it. "In an emergency you're less likely to press the wrong pedal" is a really dumb argument. If your left foot is always the brake, and your right foot is always the gas, then you know if you need to brake fast you're pushing the left foot down!

Except people panic, and forget which foot to put down, sometimes putting both.

Whereas with RFB in an emergency, you might easily hit the wrong pedal or possibly hit both pedals in your hurry to get to the brake.

Near impossible. If your foot is on the gas, there is only 1 other pedal to go to; the brake. Nobody but the biggest of morons will ever see a car brake ahead, and then floor the gas without realizing what they've done.

Your dad & your may think you're both laughing at the world, but really, we're all having giggles at your expense for having your theories backwards.

 

[Fusion]

LFBraking is dangerous in regular road driving, anyone doing it should quit the habit.

The problem with it is that it leave the opportunity for you to accelerate and brake at the same time. This can wear our your brakes faster if you overlap on accel/braking constantly, or at worst case, it can cause you in a panic to slam both feet down. Having your foot constantly hovering over the brake pedal isn't natural either and will likely cause you to drive in a more anxious manner.

Good drivers are calm, but aware drivers. Know your limits and ability, don't be paranoid about those around you but at the same time don't assume anything of them.

 

[Apollo33]

Except people panic, and forget which foot to put down, sometimes putting both.

Please explain how one might forget to put down their only foot that ever brakes, but they won't mess up with a foot that uses two pedals that are separated by inches.

Not to mention you contradict yourself by then saying only the biggest moron would hit the wrong pedal.

Edit: As far as I can tell, there's only one decent argument against LFB, which is that you may need your other foot to brace you while hitting the brakes. After reading the first article, I think they make a good case for RFB in racing, where you need to brake hard and then slowly come off the brakes, which requires some support. But in a regular car with ABS I don't see this as a problem because you would only ever brake hard in an emergency stop.

 

[dougdoberman]

Please explain how one might forget to put down their only foot that ever brakes, but they won't mess up with a foot that uses two pedals that are separated by inches.

Not to mention you contradict yourself by then saying only the biggest moron would hit the wrong pedal.

Edit: As far as I can tell, there's only one decent argument against LFB, which is that you may need your other foot to brace you while hitting the brakes. After reading the first article, I think they make a good case for RFB in racing, where you need to brake hard and then slowly come off the brakes, which requires some support. But in a regular car with ABS I don't see this as a problem because you would only ever brake hard in an emergency stop.

Yep, the bracing argument is the ONLY one that holds water. Anything else is just a question of being skilled and practiced with what you're doing.

And as I've said, both on and off the track, I brake with whatever foot the situation warrants. When I'm hauling it in at the end of a high speed straight, I brace with my left and brake with the right. Other times call for other approaches.


As for you kids who think that being an observant driver will prepare you for EVERY situation? Come back and talk to me after another 20+ years of driving and racing.

Do you HONESTLY mean to tell me that you can get your right foot off of the accelerator and, under control, onto the brake pedal in the same amount of time that I can press the pedal with my left foot that's already covering it?

And if you think that that fraction of a second doesn't make a difference, come back and talk to me after the car in front of you on the track blows a tire and turns sideways and you manage to avoid him by inches. Inches that you would NOT have had if you'd gone to the brake with your right foot.

99% of the time it doesn't matter what foot you use. But if that 1% of the time allows me a tenth of a second quicker lap time due to brushing the brake while still under throttle, or avoids a wreck, I'll take it.

Because most people can not cope with a split second decision of what foot to press when the time comes b/c they simply aren't used to it.

So, because "most people" are incompetent or untrained, those of us who CAN handle it shouldn't?

You should never have to left foot brake in traffic anyways. Using it as a "safety net" shows who the "crappy driver" is b/c if you were paying attention to the cars in front of you, you should already be anticipating when to brake.

Are you old enough to drive? Have you ever been on a race track?

Normally age doesn't make a difference in forum debates, but in this instance I question the real world experience of some of the folks here.

And the time you "save" from not having to move your foot off the gas to the brake will make no difference unless you're just really slow.

Real world data says differently. Particularly at high speeds, fractions of a second mean inches or feet.

 

[niky]

While it's true that you can get on the brakes much quicker with left-foot braking, I've been driving for nearly twenty years and have never actually needed to left-foot brake on the street. And I drive in Manila... widely regarded as the worst place to drive, anywhere. I've been pretty well-covered by heel-toe... especially since I drive a three-pedal. ("Both feet in")

On two-pedal cars, I sometimes left-foot brake when driving hard, but it's not necessary on the street, and newer cars automatically cut the gas when you hit the brakes, so you don't have the advantage of being able to balance the car through a corner by playing the two-pedal tango, anymore.

No thanks to electronic throttle control, Camry owners, Toyota, Ray LaHood and the paranoid American Media.

I brake with whatever foot the vehicle and situation calls for. I'll left-foot brake if the vehicle allows it, otherwise, I won't. And it's not because left-foot braking is inferior. It's because I often find I need to concentrate more on what my hands are doing than trying to puzzle out which foot goes where.