[OldNavyVet]

I’m pushing 80 in more ways than one ... my driving record is perfect ... and my insurance cost is incredibly low.

Meanwhile, there is one life-saving driving technique that I’d recommend.

If you drive an automatic transmission vehicle, train yourself to brake with your left foot. Given that, you will often find yourself close to riding the brake, and ... your emergency braking response time will be MUCH faster.

[Past Your Eyes]

I just love following people down the road who have their left foot on the brake.

[rednesss]

"If you drive an automatic transmission vehicle, train yourself to brake with your left foot. Given that, you will often find yourself close to riding the brake, and ... your emergency braking response time will be MUCH faster."

Actually what you'll do in an emergency is jam both feet to the floor at the same time. Giving the car max power and trying to stop it at the same time. Not wise.

[meatloaf]

Been doing that for 40 years.

[Cinnamontea]

If you drive an automatic transmission vehicle, train yourself to brake with your left foot.

When I took Driver's Ed (remember that?) in school, we were taught to brake with our left foot. That way, in tricky situations where you may need to rapidly alternate braking and accelerating, your foot can hover over your brake while your right foot is still on the accelerator. You also never mistake the brake for the accelerator.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

If you drive an automatic transmission vehicle, train yourself to brake with your left foot.

Yes, great idea. That way when you get older and confused it's no problem mashing down the accellerator instead of the brake and your car ends up inside of a donut shop. Virtually all sudden accelleration accidents are caused by senior citizen driver who brag about their lifetime of perfect driving.

[Free_SJersey]

99 out of 100 times, when you hear a story about someone driving into a convenience store, it's a left foot braker. When they sense they're not stopping fast enough, the brace themselves to brake harder and wind up pressing down with both feet. A couple of hundred horsepower vs. a couple of square inches of brake pad, guess which one wins. Braking with the right foot ensure that both pedals are never used at the same time.

Left foot brakers also are a large part of the cause of traffic congestion. In heavy traffic, riding with their foot lightly touching the brake pedal, every time they hit a bump or rut in the road, their brake lights come on causing the car behind to brake a little harder, the car behind that harder still until the car ten or fifteen behind winds up stopped (as well as all a half mile behind them).

How many mile do you get on a set of brakes. I hear people complain about only getting 20K or so miles on a set and I ask if they brake with their left foot. The answer is always yes. If I don't get at least 100K miles out a set of brakes, I know the job wasn't done right and when I replace them there is still subtantial material left on the pads.

Years ago in a column Smokey Yunick advised the same thing, but Smokey was a race car driver and not the average smoe.

Left foot braking is not safer.