Driving an automatic - do you use one foot or both?

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#1869112 20-Sep-2017 11:00

my left foot never comes of the foot rest, which is where the clutch would be on a manual . you can also tell who uses park at traffic lights as the backing light usually comes on for a second or two as the light turns green, can be a bit scary.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

Gilco2

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#1869115 20-Sep-2017 11:06

gives me the shivers people using 2 feet in auto. Over 40 years driven millions of kilometres as field service mechanic involving cars vans trucks etc. In my service van a manual, always replaced set of tyres at 70000 kms and disc pads 150000kms and never had to replace clutch before it was sold at 500000kms. When started apprenticeship at Seabrook Fowlds in Hamilton I was taught manual and automatic driving. Automatic always right foot only.

Rikkitic

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#1869116 20-Sep-2017 11:07

I use both, always have, also drove manuals for years and never had any problem with coordination or switching between them. When driving an automatic I just use whichever foot for the brake that is easiest. I never ride the brake. I keep my left foot on the floor and use it when I need to. There are times, such as when cruising down a residential street with lots of parked cars and playing children, when I just feel more comfortable with my left foot hovering over the brake pedal, even when moving at a low speed. It shaves that much more off your reaction time, especially if you are older. You can't do it if you haven't trained your foot for it, though. Hitting the brake the same way you would hit the clutch is not a fun thing to do.

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rugrat

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#1869132 20-Sep-2017 11:26

One foot.

When parking can have foot on brake and still be moving, just put brake hard in to completely stop.

Coil

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#1869134 20-Sep-2017 11:31

Rikkitic:

I use both, always have, also drove manuals for years and never had any problem with coordination or switching between them. When driving an automatic I just use whichever foot for the brake that is easiest. I never ride the brake. I keep my left foot on the floor and use it when I need to. There are times, such as when cruising down a residential street with lots of parked cars and playing children, when I just feel more comfortable with my left foot hovering over the brake pedal, even when moving at a low speed. It shaves that much more off your reaction time, especially if you are older. You can't do it if you haven't trained your foot for it, though. Hitting the brake the same way you would hit the clutch is not a fun thing to do.

What if you are in a moment where you rely on instinct as I did in a manual and do what you think is right but is actually wrong, E.g Left foot braking but hits the clutch.
Doesnt leave much margin for error and i think thats the point people argue.

Yes In a residential school area I would see it reasonable to have your foot ready just in case but I don't see people driving manuals with 3 legs so how do they combat that?
Driving with both feet in a driving test will result in a fail depending on who you are driving with.

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadcode/driving-skill-syllabus/lesson-3/

Note: when driving automatic vehicles use the right foot for both the brake pedal and the accelerator.

Aredwood

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#1869143 20-Sep-2017 11:44

One foot for me as well. As for reversing up a steep driveway in an automatic. That is really easy as you just vary the accelerator to make the car move up or roll back or stay still as necessary. No need to even use the foot brake.

Also the 3 pedal system in manual cars was designed specifically by Henry Ford to solve the problem of drivers pressing the brake and accelerator at the same time. And some modern cars with fly by wire throttle, will actually disable the accelerator if they detect the brake and accelerator being pressed at the same time. And some of those won't re enable the accelerator again until the car has come to a complete stop.

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kingdragonfly

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#1869150 20-Sep-2017 11:45

We Should Welcome The E-Pedal In The New Nissan Leaf, But It's Not The World's First: Updated
by Sam Abuelsamid

https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2017/07/19/we-should-welcome-the-e-pedal-in-the-new-nissan-leaf-but-its-not-the-worlds-first/#125d460d72a2

We’re still about about six weeks away from our first look at the second-generation Nissan Leaf sans camouflage, but in an effort to dominate the news cycle through the summer doldrums, the automaker keeps trickling out bits of information. The latest is the e-Pedal, a one-pedal driving feature that Nissan claims is a world’s first. Having driven many electric vehicles over the past decade, I wholeheartedly endorse automakers promoting one pedal driving. The only problem is that Nissan is hardly the first to do this.

Let’s step back for a moment and explain what e-pedal and similar systems are designed to do. Unlike engines that burn fuel to generate propulsive force, motors use electron flows through magnets to cause a rotary motion that ultimately makes the car move. Aside from the obvious lack of direct emissions, motors have one other remarkable property that makes them unique from engines. Unlike combustion, the entire process is reversible. If you apply a mechanical force to the rotating part of a motor, it becomes a generator, sending electrons back to the battery. This is the principle behind regenerative braking.

By pressing the accelerator pedal down, the driver is commanding the control system to send electricity to the motor that makes the vehicle accelerate. When the pedal is released, the vehicle’s momentum turns the motor, causing it to charge the battery. The flow of electricity can be regulated and is ultimately limited by the capacity of the battery to absorb energy.

In the early years of modern electrification, most automakers have tuned the regenerative braking characteristics to replicate the amount of deceleration usually achieved through engine braking in a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. The idea was to ease the transition to EVs by making the experience familiar to drivers. The problem is that this approach squanders some of the benefit of EVs.

BMW recognized this early and from the launch of its first EV pilot program with the Mini E back in 2008, they implemented a setup with strong regenerative braking as the default. When driving the Mini E, as soon as you back off the pedal, the car would slow down and even come to a complete stop in many cases without ever touching the brake pedal. BMW retained this strategy in the Active E and the production i3. Only emergency braking requires a stab of the brake pedal.

Nissan’s e-Pedal is claimed to follow a similar approach except that the strong regen braking isn’t the default. Instead, the driver activates it by toggling a switch. Even this isn’t really new. The Chevrolet Bolt EV provides similar strong regen by shifting from Drive to Low. Since the shift lever in the Bolt has no mechanical connection to the drive unit, this too is nothing more than toggling a switch, albeit a familiar one.

scuwp

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#1869151 20-Sep-2017 11:46

One foot. Avoids confusion and incorrect subconscious reactions in an emergency.

Many commentators advise against the use of left-foot braking while driving on public roads. Critics of the technique suggest that it can cause confusion when switching to or from a vehicle with a manual transmission,[8] and that it is difficult to achieve the necessary sensitivity to brake smoothly when one's left foot is accustomed to operating a clutch pedal.[9] Most of the arguments are based on the difficulty of switching from automatic to manual cars, and do not apply to people who only drive automatic cars.[8][9][why?]

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tehgerbil

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#1869253 20-Sep-2017 12:10

1 foot, but occasionally use 2 just for giggles. Driving can be rather boring, so it spices things up a bit.

Likewise driving with my left hand only (right handed) in slow moving situations, again just spices things up.

kryptonjohn

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#1869265 20-Sep-2017 12:17

I'm a grumpy old curmudgeon. My days of driving "spicing things up" are long gone. Those were the days. Gives me the sh*ts just thinking about it.

Batman

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#1869286 20-Sep-2017 12:29

I use 2 feet on 'special' occasions, when both need some pressing at the same time, or the right ankle is a bit sore/stiff. Otherwise the default is 1. So i can do either.

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jaymz

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#1869297 20-Sep-2017 12:40

Reading through the comments, it makes me even more cautious about other drivers it there are that many people who think it is OK to drive an automatic with two feet!

Sure, the car's braking system will be strong enough to overcome the engine, but what a shocking practice! Just shows how the lack of proper driver training in NZ has impacted on what people think is OK or normal.

Drive your vehicles properly, the NZ roads are not a race track, so there is no good reason for you to use both feet on the pedals of an automatic car!!

qwertee

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#1869299 20-Sep-2017 12:42

My right foot always in an automatic. Left stays on the foot rest if there is one.

If I hop into a manual I find I need to be a little alert to avoid stalling, until manual driving habits kick in.

Went overseas and rented a manual as I dont like 'surprises' driving on unfamiliar roads.

Rikkitic

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#1869300 20-Sep-2017 12:42

scuwp:

One foot. Avoids confusion and incorrect subconscious reactions in an emergency.

Many commentators advise against the use of left-foot braking while driving on public roads. Critics of the technique suggest that it can cause confusion when switching to or from a vehicle with a manual transmission,[8] and that it is difficult to achieve the necessary sensitivity to brake smoothly when one's left foot is accustomed to operating a clutch pedal.[9] Most of the arguments are based on the difficulty of switching from automatic to manual cars, and do not apply to people who only drive automatic cars.[8][9][why?]

I have never experienced anything like this when I switch between vehicle types. Maybe it is because I use both feet equally when driving an automatic so do not lose the right foot reflex. Of course I haven't had to make that many emergency stops but I have never had any sense that I would use the wrong foot in a manual. There is enough difference between two pedals and one to remind you what type of vehicle you are in. For me it is probably academic now because all of my future driving is likely to be in an automatic. If I ever find myself heading for a cliff, I will be slamming on the brakes with both feet, no doubt about that.

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Dratsab

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#1869304 20-Sep-2017 12:44

Depends on the situation.

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