When driving a vehicle with an automatic transmission, is it proper to use your left foot for braking?

Question

My wife says she was taught in drivers ed never to use your left foot on the brake.

Answer 1

One reason NOT to, is lazy people will rest their foot on the brake pedal, and it'll cause brake drag. I've seen cars going down the road, with their tail lights flickering on and off rapidly, and I can tell that they are a left-footed braker, and have it resting on the pedal.
Most driver ed teachers don't like it, and won't accept it, because a driver MIGHT keep their foot on the gas pedal, and mash BOTH down in an emergency, negating the brake. That's a good reason to use only your right foot for both. Once you've got your license, no one can tell you No, however.
It's been said (probably by the Volvo lawyers ) about that "unexpected acceleration" problem that cropped up with some Volvo models in the 1980's, some drivers swore they had their foot off the gas, some instances the forensics indicated otherwise, that they probably had their foot on the gas( maybe left-footed braking? I don't know) I will sometimes use the left if my right is tired, but I won't normally do it. It's more for a safety issue , and saving your brakes, than anything ( which are good reasons ).
About the ONLY time I'd say to use your left foot for braking is during snow driving, sometimes an automatic trans car will crab sideways, and tapping the brake left-footed will sometimes straighten it out. That's on old cars, the newer ones rarely crab anymore, they've engineered that problem out of most cars now, anyway.

Answer 2

No one learns how to drive a stick in one hour. If you don't drive one correctly, you will tear up the clutch and probably the CV Joints. Transmission damage is very possible. If you really botched things up, you could in theory tear up the engine, but for all of these, you would have to drive terribly for a long time. Most people will learn how long before any major damage is done. A good excercise to do when learning how to get the car going is this. Push the clutch all the way down. Slowly, bring it up. You'll feel the engine start to slow down. Give it a little gas(no more than 2000 rpm or so). As soon as the car starts to move, push the clutch all the way back down and stop the car. After learning where the clutch catches, do it again, but do not push the clutch back in. Keep the clutch exactly where it is. Don't move your foot. Keep the RPMs at around 2000. The car will start to move. When the car stops accelerating, slowly take your foot off the clutch and give the car more gas. This is called riding the clutch and is not good for all the time. However, when you are learning how to play the clutch and the gas, it is acceptable. Do it too often and you will fry your clutch. After a while, your muscle memory will kick in and you will be able to get it moving in first. Driving with a clutch takes practice. If you want to drive a stick, you will learn. If you are scared, the car will know it and try to buck you off like a mad bull. There are no games that will give you the feel of driving with a clutch. Sorry dude. Hope this helps. Good luck with your parents.

Answer 3

They tell you don't use your left foot in driver's ed in case you ever drive a car with a manual transmission, because in that case you will need your right foot for the brake and gas and your left foot for the clutch. Using your left foot for the brake can get confusing.

However, as long as you know what you're doing, it shouldn't matter what foot you use.

Answer 4

First of all, if you brake with your right foot, then there is no way you can accidently be on the gas and the brake at the same time.

Secondly, whoever said that race-car drivers brake with their left foot is wrong. The reason being, that race-cars are manual transmission so that the driver has more control, and their left foot needs to be on the clutch.

Answer 5

It is not the accepted way to drive. However, it is wise to learn to brake with the left if only to provide increased control when getting out of a snow rut, especially if the bottom is ice, or out of mud. For normal driving, the foot that does the accelerating is normally used to better control, and is less likely to hit the brake to hard when driving in traffic. Using the left for braking all the time also increases by several thousand percent the likelihood of riding the brake, albeit not on purpose, not to mention it will flunk you most driving tests.
By the way, bigfred1954 the pedals are not opposite in Britain!
http://www.2pass.co.uk/auto.htm

Answer 6

As Long as your right foot Knows what your left is doing You should be OK. ( Be sure to let off gas first).
Drivers Ed it's a safety issue, They are afraid a new driver will panic and Push the gas Not the brake and hit something.So they Teach right foot for everything so not to Confuse.
If you Are Used to it & it works for you, without any Negitive side effects Go for it.

Answer 7

No it doesn't matter, BUT the right foot should be off the accelerator pedal. If you are used to it by now don't worry about the driver ed classes as long as you are comfortable with the left foot braking habit.

Answer 8

I always have. They used to teach to only use your right foot. The purpose of that was so that you wouldn't have your foot on the gas and the brake at the same time. When you hit the brake, it will throw you forward a bit. With your foot still on the gas you may have the feeling of putting your foot out to stop you from going forward, and would hit the gas.

I always remove my foot from the pedal completely, that way it is always free from the gas.

Your wife is right, that is what they teach and why.

Answer 9

Like others said you always use the right foot for braking. In case of an emergency stop you can very easily push on the gas pedal and brake pedal at the same time. I was behind a couple one time and the brake lights kept flashing, very annoying, at a stop light I got along side and complained about the brake lights coming on, his wife said " Harry, I told you to get your foot of the brake pedal"
Texas

Answer 10

NO.
Because if you ever need to learn to drive a stickshift, How are you going to stop in a panic?
Your left foot needs to push down the clutch.

It's just not a good thing to do.
Not to mention, what is your right foot going to do while your left foot is braking? Push the gas?
People tend to push their feet to the floor in a panic. Brake and gas at the same time is why people get run over by accident by old guys, and women drive into coffee shops.