Automatic shift drivers---are you a one footed driver or a two footed driver?

[virgogal]

I've always been two footed----felt it was a waste to just let the left foot sit there doing nothing while the right foot did all the work.

I also have no trouble with the feet when switching to manual shifting as the need arises----I drove that way for years.

[MicaelS]

1. One foot... the other one stays on the dead pedal. n/t

[redqueen]

2. I was taught that it is dangerous to use both feet. (nt)

[Soylent Brice]

19. +1

go karts... that's another story.

[Shell Beau]

3. Both feet? No way. Just one foot will do.

[pitohui]

4. one footed

if you have one extremely dominant hand, leg, foot, and/or eye, then it does no good for anyone to try to teach you otherwise

it works about as well as it did for teachers to try to force my left-handed brother to write with his right hand

i'm glad you've always been two footed but you must understand that some of us heard all the lectures and yelling from day one of learning to drive and we still can't drive safely in that style because we have a strongly dominant side of the body

[tabbycat31]

5. one foot

and I will switch feet on a longer (3+ hour) drive

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Two feet is dangerous in an automatic. I don't like risking other people's lives.

I think it's also too easy to wear down the brakes by possibly braking and being on the gas at the same time. Also can lead to jackrabbit starts.

Whenever we'd see a car lurching, jackrabbit starting, and doing other idiocy, we'd joke "Jesus, is he driving with both feet?"

[virgogal]

7. I buy new cars and drive them for about 8 years and have never had a break job.

And by the way,how on earth can 2 footed driving risk someone's life?

[pitohui]

10. depends on the driver

some people have a strongly dominant foot, just as some have a strongly dominant hand

see my post above, imagine a left handed person now being told to be ambi-dextrous and apply that to driving

i was one who was told i should drive two footed, for me, that it just not safe

strictly depends on the person and i believe footedness is genetic, as is handedness

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Because one foot is always on the gas pedal.

Even if not actively depressing it (as I'm sure you don't when you are stopped), it's still hovering right over it when driving with two feet, and thus there's always the risk of accelerating when not intended.

Minor risk, sure. But a real one.

Also one runs the same risk of accidentally tapping the brake because the foot is always hovering over it.

Obviously, you've not had a problem with it so far, and that's fine. I don't doubt you. I'm just pointing out that there is a risk to it and so I don't do it.

[obxhead]

45. It's the miles that count, not the years.

Average 40K a year on a car with a lot of city driving and you will shred those pads up.

[Skittles]

15. ?

my left foot hovers - I never brake / hit the gas at the same time - I've been driving this way for 36 years with no problems

[Deep13]

8. one foot...

It used to be that the other foot controlled the headlight dimmer switch.

[Tripper11]

9. Only going up steep hills.

In Seattle we have some pretty decent hills, so when I am going up and have to come to a stop, I'll use my left foot to brake. When the light turns green I ease off while accelerating. Saves on any little rollback.

[One_Life_To_Give]

11. One footed

I am of the heel and toe generation. So that is my inclination. Although I don't routinely practice either method.

[Skittles]

13. I have always used both feet

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. depends on how far a drive I am making, weather conditions, traffic

etc.

[madinmaryland]

16. People drive an automatic with two feet???

:wtf:

Yeah, :wtf:

[triguy46]

25. Many of whom have had runaway Prius accidents.

hey! Lighten up:scared:

[PJPhreak]

17. Two...

I use a variation of "Heal and Toe" footstyle while driving an automatic trans.

I was taught to drive in a old Jeep 2WD with a Non Synchromesh 3-Speed Tranny,you learn how to do something different with each limb all at the same time
(clutch,steering,shifting,gas/braking) as well as Double-Clutch Downshifting,Heal and Toe Gas/Brake Pedal Manipulation,Matching Engine RPM to Vehicle Speed and so on in a real hurry.

Much more primitive than Todays modern Transmissions,Braking and Steering Systems to say the least.
My Dad was Totally Anal about safety due to the fact he was an obsessive "Hot-Rodder".
He wanted to make sure that not only was the car safe to drive but also his kids to be able in his words "To be able to pilot a car,not just point one"

Needless to say,I Love a Rear-Engined,Rear Wheel Drive auto with a 5-Speed Tranny and the Top Down,like this...

[applegrove]

18. One foot. Remind me not to drive with you LOL!

[quickesst]

20. One foot....

...except when I'm in a situation where slow reaction could leave you sitting all day. A side street trying to turn left into an extremely busy street for example, or braking for traction to get off the line at the strip. Other than that, it's one foot. I would venture to say there are thousands of "two-footers" that are completely unaware that the cars behind them are continuously subjected to "brake-light on, brake-light off, brake-light on, brake-light off, for as many miles as they are behind them. At times you just can't tell if the person is actually applying the brakes, or doing an unconscious tap dance on the pedal. My advice, learn to drive, and keep your left foot off the brake until required. Thanks.
quickesst

[Sanity Claws]

21. One foot

I hate driving behind someone who is driving an automatic and using two feet. It is easy to pick them out -- they have their brake lights on while accelerating. I can't figure out what they're doing.
That is dangerous.
If your brake lights are on when you're not planning to stop, then I won't know to pay attention to your brake lights when you intend to brake.

[nytemare]

22. I have since I was 16.

My first car would stall out at stop signs or traffic lights if I didn't have my foot a little on the gas, so I pretty much learned to drive with two feet. I feel that I am quicker to the brake that way. It does cause some leg cramping at times.

I see some people are too happy with the brake pedal. I've always wondered why people don't control their speed more by just letting off the accelerator. I love getting behind people when they have no cars in front of them, and they are just tapping away at the brake. They have to make themselves nauseous by jerking about so much.

[MiddleFingerMom]

23. I had a friend in high school who was an uber-nerd.

.
This was in the days before computers, so he was an electronics uber-nerd.
.
He had the COOLEST "hobby" ever -- he refurbished Triumph sports cars,
drove them for awhile, refurbished another, sold the first and drove the
second for awhile, and so on and so on.
.
As well as restoring these cars, he would put in James Bond-like toggle-switch
boards. One of the switches could turn off his brake lights, in case he had to
slow down fast on spotting a police cruiser. Another turned his brake lights
ON without having to touch the brake pedal -- drove tailgaters CRAZY.
.
He would put an insane amount of speakers to go with killer sound systems in
these little tiny two-seaters -- if about his car, the Who's album woulda been
called "Duodeciphenia".
.
I don't think he could release an oil slick behind the car and I don't think
he had a passenger ejection seat.
.
Maybe I just never pissed him off enough.
.

[triguy46]

24. One foot. Simply because it is the correct way.

[BlueJazz]

26. two footies

[Digit]

27. Two footed, but I learned to drive on a stick shift

I thought this might be why.

[MissMarple]

28. You have GOT to be kidding!

And I love driving with a standard shift. But....seriously....that is just so wrong. Poor form. Yes. Poor form.

Was this a joke? Oh, yes, I'm in the Lounge. :rofl: Got me.


I needed a laugh. I've been out in the cold, cruel world.

[Throd]

29. Only when stopped on a steep incline. Otherwise no.

[Jokerman]

30. My mom drove with one foot resting on the brake.

I had no idea how dangerous that was until one day, I watched her drive away and the brake lights were ALWAYS ON!

I can remember at least three times when the car she was driving was hit from behind.

[virgogal]

34. I would say the people who struck her from behind were the ones at fault,not her.

[Jokerman]

40. Maybe, maybe not.

Have you ever been behind someone in traffic who is resting their foot on the brake pedal? The brake lights are always on whether the car is accelerating or decelerating and that's a very dangerous situation. The brake lights might as well not be working at all.

I was not with my mother when any of the wrecks occurred so I can't say who was at fault but I know that my mom's bad driving habits didn't help.

[virgogal]

42. For heaven's sake,you pull back from a driver like that.

[TommyO]

31. One foot

The left foot is only for a clutch when you're driving a stick, otherwise it belongs on the dead pedal (or at least where a dead pedal should be).

[velvet]

32. one foot

The other one atrophied since I switched from manual to automatic.

[Urban Prairie]

33. One foot

But I have owned several cars with a manual transmission, and it took about a month or so to break the almost instinctive habit, after switching to driving an automatic, for my left foot to stop lifting up for a pedal, thinking that it needed to engage the clutch, as well as my right hand reaching for the non-existent shifter.

[pinniped]

35. The 2-foot technique works for me.

There's nothing wrong with it, and the transition back to 1-foot or manual isn't a problem either.

[proteus_lives]

36. One foot.

[Lionel Mandrake]

37. 3 feet

Left foot on the clutch, middle foot on the brake, and right foot on the accelerator.

That's how we used to drive on the old planet.

A fourth foot for the headlight dimmer switch was optional.

[Lasher]

39. I wish I had your gift.

Particularly back when I used to fire an old manual shift Chevy pickup with the starter on the floor.

[Mutley]

38. Two

I drive a manual so I have to use two.

Edit: Sorry, you said automatic drivers. It's been a long day and I totally missed that. :x

[underpants]

41. One foot- the correct way to drive

but apparently from riding with my wife last night SHE is a two footer :eyes::scared::hide:

[Mopar151]

43. I usually 1-foot

'cus I also drive stick a lot. Quick leaves and front-wheel drive change that up sometimes, though.

[baldguy]

44. I learned how to drive on a standard...er, MANUAL transmission.

I use one - the right foot - for the gas and the break so I can use the left for the clutch pedal. Even though I have no clutch pedal.