Just one foot, please

By Dez Miklos

The Toronto Star
Saturday, March 6, 2010

Oops! This driver used both feet to control the pedals of his automatic.

As a driver trainer, I always feel uneasy when I teach senior males.

Some of them have an awfully bad habit of driving an automatic transmission with two feet: the left foot on the brake and the right on the gas pedal.

In a panic situation while applying the brake with the left foot, the right foot is braced on the gas pedal. We all know that this kind of "pedal misapplication" will cause the gas pedal to win all the time. To the driver, it will seem as if the vehicle does not want to stop, and in fact, it will feel as if it is accelerating in an unwanted manner.

By the way, I find the same problem with some immigrants who have had previous driving experience only in standard shift cars, who do not know what to do with their left foot in an automatic transmission vehicle.

Rest assured that I am talking with authority on this matter. Please see my photo of my former driving school, where a senior who was a two-foot driver drove through the windows by "pedal misapplication."

Two different opinions on two-footed driving "Just one foot, please"

Ross Klopp, Collingwood

Mar 13, 2010
Your View, March 6

I read with interest the letter from Dez Miklos about the problem with drivers who drive with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator.

What he forgot to mention is that following one of these two-foot drivers is like following a pinball machine: the brake lights are flashing on and off and, even when they are accelerating, the brake lights are still flashing on and off.

It is also a little confusing when they pull away at a green light and their brake lights are flashing.

Armand Rodrigues, Toronto

Mar 13, 2010
Your View, March 6

I have to put my foot down! Dez Miklos may be talking with authority, but he can hardly generalize with a single incident of "pedal misapplication."

Left-foot braking has been strongly endorsed by experts like Charles Goodman and Jim Kenzie. After more than 50 years of driving with both feet – transmission type notwithstanding – who am I to disagree with them?

The practice seems so natural and easily becomes second nature to a driver otherwise used to manual transmission.

Reaction time saved by left foot braking can be one- or two-tenths of a second, which translates into three or six metres at 100 km/h, which seniors in particular could use to their advantage.

Even rally car drivers use both feet.