Police Forum Police Head Mod: Skidmark
Questions & info about the Motor Vehicle Act. Mature discussion only. |
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01-21-2012, 12:03 PM
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#1 | | Retired Traffic Cop
Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Nanoose Bay, BC
Posts: 9,025
Thanked 126 Times in 68 Posts
Failed 3 Times in 2 Posts
| DriveSmartBC - Final Article
I am occasionally asked about using the left foot for braking instead of the right foot. The usual justification given for this is that the brakes may be applied more quickly because the left foot is ready while the right foot is busy with the accelerator pedal. While there are different schools of thought on whether this is appropriate for highway driving it may not be a good idea for the average driver.
An important job for your left foot and the leg attached to it is to press against the raised portion on the left side of the driver's foot well. This action forces the driver into the seat and anchors the body leaving the arms free to steer with during lateral acceleration and heavy braking. Staying in complete control means not hanging on to the steering wheel in order to keep your body in position.
If you get lazy and ride the brake with your left foot enough to light the brake lights will confuse the driver behind you. Are you stopping or not? Confusion like this will lead to an increased chance of being hit from behind and contributes to excessive brake wear and poor fuel economy.
In the event of a collision, the resulting pressure on both the brake and the accelerator will reduce the effectiveness of the brakes at a time when they are needed.
Finally, check with your driving examiner. Left foot braking during a road test may not be acceptable in all circumstances. Reference Links Thanks to all who have read and responded to my articles here in the forum. If you would like to continue to read them you can do one of two things:
Sign up for the DriveSmartBC newsletter by sending a blank e-mail to drivesmartbc_updates@drivesmartbc.ca Follow @DriveSmartBC on Twitter
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Learn more at DriveSmartBC
Last edited by skidmark; 07-16-2023 at 01:52 PM.
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01-21-2012, 04:05 PM
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#2 | | ...on a mission....
Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: n
Posts: 281
Thanked 60 Times in 30 Posts
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Are you leaving the DriveSmartBC website too Skidmark? :O
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01-21-2012, 05:32 PM
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#3 | | I subscribe to Revscene
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Victoria
Posts: 1,978
Thanked 185 Times in 129 Posts
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Why are you leaving us? I enjoy reading your articles, even if I don't always agree with them.
As for the left foot thing - the real purpose of the footrest is that it is something to consciously press your foot against so you don't accidentally mash the brake pedal with your left foot. You'll understand best if your regular car is a stick shift and you occasionally get stuck in an automatic rental or loaner....
Why they make the brake pedals on auto cars extra wide I'll never know  | |
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01-21-2012, 05:36 PM
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#4 | | Wanna have a threesome?
Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Squamish
Posts: 4,889
Thanked 5,054 Times in 1,657 Posts
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I always enjoy reading your articles, Skidmark.
What's prompted the departure?
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01-21-2012, 07:39 PM
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#5 | | I *heart* Revscene.net very Muchie
Join Date: May 2001 Location: Burnaby, BC
Posts: 3,564
Thanked 330 Times in 163 Posts
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by skidmark  An important job for your left foot | is to operate the clutch.
Anything else is just "steering" 
__________________
Don't be the next RS.net statistic - If you drink, don't drive. You'll lose your licence, and the rest of us will laugh at you.
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01-22-2012, 07:58 AM
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#6 | | RS Peace Officer
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vancouver Islan
Posts: 3,867
Thanked 1,636 Times in 683 Posts
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Left foot braking on a Road test will get you demerit points.
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01-22-2012, 05:39 PM
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#7 | | To me, there is the Internet and there is RS
Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Okanagan
Posts: 17,260
Thanked 10,051 Times in 4,377 Posts
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the only time my left foot is on the brake is when I'm stopped at a light and my right foot is itchy.
Skidmark are you leaving DriveSmartBC, or RS?
__________________ 1991 Toyota Celica GTFour RC // 2007 Toyota Rav4 V6 // 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1992 Toyota Celica GT-S ["sold"] \\ 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD [sold] \\ 2000 Jeep Cherokee [sold] \\ 1997 Honda Prelude [sold] \\ 1992 Jeep YJ [sold/crashed] \\ 1987 Mazda RX-7 [sold] \\ 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S [crushed] Quote:
Originally Posted by maksimizer half those dudes are hotter than ,my GF. | Quote:
Originally Posted by RevYouUp reading this thread is like waiting for goku to charge up a spirit bomb in dragon ball z | Quote:
Originally Posted by Good_KarMa OH thank god. I thought u had sex with my wife. :cry: | | |
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01-22-2012, 09:28 PM
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#8 | | Banned (ABWS)
Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kits/Richmond
Posts: 4,409
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1. People actually do this enough to warrant an article? Fuck me, would've never known that.
2. Why does everyone think Skidmark is leaving? What I got was that he's done writing the DriveSmart articles and posting them here.
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01-23-2012, 03:52 AM
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#9 | | I Will not Admit my Addiction to RS
Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Richmond BC
Posts: 520
Thanked 1,237 Times in 191 Posts
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by zulutango Left foot braking on a Road test will get you demerit points. | I recall you can fail the whole test if you left foot braked.
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01-23-2012, 08:58 AM
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#10 | | Where's my RS Christmas Lobster?!
Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: vancouver
Posts: 827
Thanked 184 Times in 106 Posts
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The only time I do it is on the track. Sometimes.
But I do agree with having the left foot on dead pedal to hold position, given that I've had to do that to stabilize myself on the track as well.
OEM seats don't provide a whole lot of lateral support when it comes to hard driving.
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07-16-2023, 01:54 PM
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#11 | | Retired Traffic Cop
Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Nanoose Bay, BC
Posts: 9,025
Thanked 126 Times in 68 Posts
Failed 3 Times in 2 Posts
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I guess that a reply is long overdue! I was just too busy to keep up my writing, visit forums and take care of family life. Something had to give and this was it.
Even in 2023 I'm still busy with my DriveSmartBC website though.
__________________
Have you ever met anyone that would admit to being less than a better than average driver ??
Learn more at DriveSmartBC | |
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