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Left Foot Braking - Good or Bad
By:
Deutschmann Personal Injury & Disability Law (Lawyers)
| Published 11/16/2015
Left foot braking, the practice you use your right foot on the accelerator of the car, and your left foot on the brake, has been going on for as long as we’ve been driving automatic transmission cars. Some people, like race car drivers, swear by the practice. Driving instructors advise against it.
Proponents of left foot breaking say that if you have two pedals and two feet it only makes sense to use one on each. They maintain it is safer and more efficient. It gives you a quicker response time to the brake itself.
HOWEVER, this assumes you are a skilled driver who will not apply both the brake and the gas at the same time. Many left foot brakers are chronic brake riders who are constantly depressing both pedals simultaneously. This leads to confusion for drivers behind the car who see the brake lights on, and it also leads to engine strain and premature brake failure. Confusion can set in during an emergency resulting in both pedals being depressed simultaneously. In new cars the brake over rides the accelerator, but in old ones the two systems work against one another.
In many provinces left foot braking results in failing a drive test. Interestingly, insurance companies do not consider it a factor when evaluating accidents. What are your thoughts on left foot braking? Leave them in the comments section.
