so I took a prospective driver for a test drive today and he surprised me by...

I am not getting the assumption that if the left foot is used to brake then the driver must be riding the brake pedal. Is there some evidence to suggest that left feet have less tactile control than right feet?.

Some of the best drivers in the world use left foot braking. BUT..."it's not the way *I* drive so there must be something wrong with it".

 

Do your trucks have a hill hold? Similar to the "grade gripper" the new automatic Macks and Volvos have? If they do, he's defeating the purpose and needs to be broken of the habit.

 

2-footed drivers tend to let their feet fight each other to maintain speed. Too slow? Little more throttle. Too fast? A little more brake will solve that. Unfortunately, fuel mileage is going to suck, and brake shoes and drums will wear out 3x as often.

These drivers are easy to spot on the road...they are the ones with the brake lights on as they accelerate up to speed from the red light. The brake lights might go out momentarily, but then once they are back up to speed there they are again as they hold their speed down with the brakes.

Personally, if I EVER saw somebody driving one of my vehicles like that, I'd throw them out of the vehicle and they could WALK home. If your left foot just HAS to do something while you drive, get a manual transmission...or buy your own vehicle and proceed to drive it however you deem appropriate now that you're the one paying for the repairs. As long as you're driving one of MY vehicles, the same foot you use on the throttle is the one you need to use if/when brakes are necessary. Period.

 

I would say if he is a good driver hire him.. You cares if he uses his left for brake.... I think the problem people have is it's not the "normal" way to do it... I have tried it before and it's weird and I wouldn't drive like that.. But that is how I do things and not everyone is the same everything has different ways of doing the same things..

Now the only issue I see is putting both you feet on the pedals at the same time causing brake wear or possibly hitting a car in front because you make the mistake of hitting both at the same time but the throttle over takes the brakes and doesn't stop the truck but only slows it down depending on how much brake and fuel is pushed.. Tho I am someone who doesn't do it and it's not normal for me.. If it's normal for someone they probably would have this issue cause they have trained themselves to drive like this..

For those talking about riding the brakes.. Where is the proof that a left footed brake person is going to ride the brakes?? Why would using your left foot make you wear the brakes or ride the brakes?? Maybe that person isn't hovering the pedal with the foot or maybe they are but they are not pressing it.. If it is normal for them to cover the pedal with left foot then that wouldn't have issues with riding the brakes.. Too them it's the normal way to do it..

 

I've always seen goof balls flying down the highway accelerating with brake lights on, riding the brakes with their left foot. It's an extremely bad habit. Aside from wearing out the brakes prematurely, you could accidentally brake on ice. In a panic stop you could end up mashing you right foot under the brake pedal.

I wouldn't immediately discount a driver if I found him doing this, IF he had never been taught better. If after telling him to stop immediately and he didn't I'd find another driver.

I've seen guys use their left foot to brake and downshift at the same time. I usually just grab a handful of the trailer brake trolly lever and downshift while trailer braking. Having a power only lease preserves tractor brakes by using the trailer brakes for most stops in ideal conditions. Doesn't work so well empty or in adverse weather conditions.

 

I was always taught to never hover over the clutch or brake pedal. Hovering over the pedal will more often then not lead to slightly depressing the pedal without realizing it. People that hover over clutch pedals, more often than not, wear out clutches. People that hover over brake pedals with their left foot, more often than not, ride the brakes while accelerating.

The proof is seeing a car accelerating up a hill with their brakes on.

 

Fair enough, your truck, your rules. Anyone that drives your truck must drive it the way you want it to be driven. That is not the same thing as the truck being driven incorrectly or abusively if they don't, but none of that matters as it is your truck.

 

You can only speak of the 1 or 2 times you have seen it happen.. Do you realize in North America we have a population of 565million people (2013 stats).. You can hardly constitute your few times, heck lets even say you have seen 100 times that is no comparison to the 565million people living in North American.. You nor I know how many of those people drive like that... So your proof isn't really good when you compare how many people live and drive in North America.. For all we know 200 million people can drive like this and 350 million drive the "normal" way.. So your ratio of people you see and the people that drive doesn't really add up in your favour

Like someone else stated.. Just because you think driving with right foot only for fuel and brake doesn't mean it's the only way to drive. Nor does it mean that someone who drives with both left and right is the only way to drive.. Nor does it mean that someone who drive left only will right the brake... Be open minded we have lots of people in this world with different habits.. Really are you going to dispute someone who have been driving 30 years right left and right and tell them they are wrong even if they are accident free and have good maintenance records??

I don't drive left/right on brake/fuel, but I wouldn't be so narrow minded to say right foot only is the only proper way.. Nor would I be so narrow minded to say all people who left foot brake hover the pedal... Show me some proof that people tend to ride the the brake pedal when using left foot... Not just saying you saw one guy going up a hill accelerating and having brake lights on at the same time.. That don't cut it !!!!

That's like saying most of the world is writes right handed and anyone who writes left handed are doing it all wrong.. Because when you are left handed you are dragging you hand through what you were just writing.. So they must be wrong too right???? I mean who wants to be left handed and have ink on there hand.. They must be doing something wrong....

 

My dad was born a lefty, and his school made him learn to write right handed. His penmanship is great and he doesn't smear his ink. I asked him what he thought about it, and he said no big deal. I throw with my left and write with my right. Would I force my kid to write with his right if he was a lefty? NO. We use keyboards now. Lol.

Having both feet so close in a panic stop spells disaster. In a panic you only have gross motor movement and having both feet would only add to failure. That's not narrow minded. Just a fact.

I'm not saying double footers do ride the pedals just because they use both feet. But, if a double footer also has a tendency to hover their foot over the pedal, more than likely, they are cruising around riding the brakes. I could care less about the statistics, you'll never see me accelerating up a hill with my brakes on.

I never said right foot is the only way, just the best, most practical, safest way.