Tiger Woods - car crash

Associate
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Fair enough R.P.L., but how would we know that the guy who said that Americans drive with the left foot on the brake actually meant that some of them may drive with their left foot hovering near the brake pedal?
He said that they drive with one foot on the brake, if this was true, then their brake lights WOULD be on, and their fuel consumption would be extremely high, as you quite rightly pointed out.

I don't know, but it seems completely crazy that a large number of people would do that. Having lived (and driven) in the US recently, I can also confirm that it's definitely not the case anyway. So I based my assumption on those two points.
 
Soldato
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Apparently he hit the accelerator rather than the brake when trying to stop. I have noticed when in the US that people drive automatic cars with 2 feet, 1 on the brake and one on the accelerator. ALways thought it was a bit unusual.

Before I learned to drive in my teens, I went go karting and went round the track with my left foot touching the brake. There was a crash up ahead, I hit the brakes to no effect and rear ended the crashed karts at full speed!
 
Associate
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Before I learned to drive in my teens, I went go karting and went round the track with my left foot touching the brake. There was a crash up ahead, I hit the brakes to no effect and rear ended the crashed karts at full speed!

Yeah, that's a well known beginner pitfall with karts. I seem to remember some hire karts having the two pedals connected so that it wasn't possible to press both at the same time for that reason.
 
Soldato
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Left foot braking has long been used in motorsport (I used to use it while I was doing a bit of amateur rally driving) it's so you always have power available, not sure why you'd use it on the road tbh as you don't really need to shave seconds off your best time to Tesco.
 
Soldato
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Left foot braking has long been used in motorsport (I used to use it while I was doing a bit of amateur rally driving) it's so you always have power available, not sure why you'd use it on the road

Tailgating through town. Overtaking in town.

Nothing but the most responsible purposes.
 
Associate
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I am the guy that mentioned the foot on each pedal. I meant gently resting on each pedal. Not enough to either engage the brake or the accelerator unless you push. Right foot go, left foot stop. That is the way that I have experienced some, but certainly not all people driving in the US. Purely anecdotal.

The black box will tell the actual facts.
 
Man of Honour
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Given he didn't brake at all, it is suggestive that he fell asleep. Early morning trip to the course for a TV shoot in a hired car on unfamiliar roads; to me he most likely fell asleep.

That’s a possibility, doesn’t make any difference whether you’re driving an auto or manual, you can still “zone out.”
I remember driving a truck back from Grimsby to London in the very late fifties, maybe 1960.
In those days there was no A1M, or even some bypasses, you drove through towns, albeit they weren’t much bigger than large villages.
I was driving through Stamford, thinking, ‘Won’t be long, soon be going through Hatfield, then hitting the straight to get home’, then I suddenly thought, “Christ, what happened to Grantham?”
 
Soldato
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Left foot braking has long been used in motorsport (I used to use it while I was doing a bit of amateur rally driving) it's so you always have power available, not sure why you'd use it on the road tbh as you don't really need to shave seconds off your best time to Tesco.

You havn't seen the drivers around here clearly.
 
Soldato
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Apparently he hit the accelerator rather than the brake when trying to stop. I have noticed when in the US that people drive automatic cars with 2 feet, 1 on the brake and one on the accelerator. ALways thought it was a bit unusual.


Never seen anyone drive an auto with 2 feet.
They put a foot rest away from the peddles for a reason.

I always used just my right foot.
 
Associate
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Never seen anyone drive an auto with 2 feet.
They put a foot rest away from the peddles for a reason.

I always used just my right foot.

Yeah - same here, right foot only.

I've got an Auto and a Manual car - the temptation to use your left foot when you first drive the Auto is hard to overcome, and the issue is you don't have the dexterity from a pressure viewpoint with your left foot initially, so any press on the brake pedal will likely result in a full on emergency stop until you get the required muscle memory.

When you first drive an Auto the best thing you can do is try and forget about your left foot completely.
 
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