Mother in law drives with one foot on gas and one foot on brake.

I split my brain for automatic versus manual braking foot right when I learned to drive over forty years ago. The two family cars were a 1960 VW Beetle (that was a 40 hp year), which is about as manual as you could get at the time, and probably a station wagon (probably 1963 Chevy) with automatic transmission, power brakes, and power steering.

In my mind it made sense to use two feet on the automatic. It is nonsense to insist that all two-foot drivers overlap. Plenty of us don't. In my case the fact I was learning on two such different cars helped keep the reflex sets separate, and they have stayed that way ever since. At this moment, the family has a manual Audi A4 and a Prius, and I continue my foot-use habits.

I suspect mother-in-law would be more a risk to the car, herself, and other drivers if she tried to shift the habit of a lifetime than if she keeps on doing what she knows. Nothing the original poster said has so far mentioned that she overlaps pedal use. Of course she may be doing that. Even if she does a little, I don't think grave harm will come to the car with a little such use, though it obviously is not for the best.

 

Leave her alone.

 

I drove the two-foot style in high school only because it was necessary to prevent that particular old car from stalling during braking. Had to work hard to break that habit on the next car.

Without some sort of overlap feedback to the driver -- they don't get to see their own brake lights -- this seems like a poor method, with great risk of wasting fuel and brakes. If a couple tenths of a second of improved braking reaction time is that helpful, one is driving too close or with insufficient defensive style. (Admittedly, that describes the standard driving culture in many places.) But I'd like to know what its proponents get for brake pad life in a non-hybrid.

 

Don't you mean the other way around? the right foot on the brake and gas at the same time, blipping the gas while the left stays on the clutch? Like doing heel-and-toe? That's different. I did that too on two of my cars to prevent stalling.

The muscle memory involved after years of doing it correctly, i.e., not riding the brakes, you'll know, and you'll feel if your left foot is on the brake pedal. If you train that foot enough to hover just above the brake pedal, then it will do exactly that. Also, one can actually tell if the third brake light (if you have one) lights up from the rear view mirror and learn how much pressure it takes for it to turn on. But of course, it still doesn't mean that there's already friction going on. So you have to train the foot not to touch it completely. How hard is that? If you learned how not to ride the clutch with the left, it's easy to not ride the brake also. Anything can be learned and re-learned.

Every year, for only two weeks, I go to my home country where it's left hand drive like the US and our car there is M/T. Never had any problems switching back to the traditional way. At first I thought it'll take a while to get used to again, but once I stepped on the clutch again, it was like I never left the country. I also thought I'd be stepping on the brake with my left unconsciously, but it did not happen because my mindset was back to how to drive an M/T car where my left foot should be on the clutch. The right foot sensitivity to the brake is still there too.

Also, I think the left foot is perfect for the the brake pedal in A/T cars because if you learned to step on the clutch in a hard way driving an M/T, you'll have that same pressure needed to brake hard on emergency situations (almost all cars now have ABS anyway, so no problem of locking up where hard pressure is actually needed to engage it), and not by the right foot hitting the accelerator in confusion. Tons of driver fail videos on youtube accidentally hitting the accelerator in confusion and ramming into things.

Speaking of ABS, most drivers still don't even know the sensation of the ABS engaging and how hard you really have to be stepping to actually engage it. I bet you can engage it sooner with your left foot than your right. It only takes a few slow moving sessions of learning how to brake soft and how to brake hard with the left foot.

 

Most people who drive in the snow know the sensation very well.

 

Humm, I try to pay attention to actions of other drivers and conditions and anytime there is a risk I take my foot off the gas and have it barely touching by the brake lever to lessen the reaction time of needed.

Two thoughts...
1. In risky moments gas should not be applied anyways.
2. If the foot is actually pressing at all it normally will prematurely burn out the brake pads, but on a prius it will cause regen I would think.... It would be similar to driving in B mode all the time lessening gas mileage.

I haven't tested it yet to see if regen occurs while applying the gas pedal.

Alan.. Sent with Tapatalk 2

 

All - two footed driving is common in race driving. In fact, it is the fast way to drive. transitions from power to brake are smoother (don't upset the chassis as much), and "trailbraking" (riding the brakes and accelerating at the same time - gasp!) is a valid concept and can be very effective in certain cornering situations.

 

Luckily I was able to dig up the Word Doc I used to log maintenance actions on my 1987 BMW 325i.

First front brake pad replacement was at 69,708 miles, first rear pad replacement was at 93,414.

Of course the brake wear (non-regen car) has a lot to do with the driver planning ahead to avoid spending gasoline building up kinetic or potential energy in the car which will shortly be thrown away in the brakes. Understanding your car and using it properly have a lot more to do with the subject than does which body part operates which control.

Not that I'd call myself a proponent. I have never tried to persuade others to my brake foot habits.

 

That particular car (and its replacement) didn't have a clutch. I learned clutches on agricultural equipment, only later moving to them in cars.

Locally, a number of parents are putting their high schoolers into clutched cars for the specific reason of reducing texting and cell phone use while driving. We'll have to watch to see how successful this is.
'Clutch' idea could keep teens safer on the road

I am seeing a numerous drivers doing it wrong, as betrayed by their brake lights. Though last night's example so was bad that it may have been a frozen brake light switch instead of merely riding the brake.

That might be true in warm dry climates. Those of us in cold wet climates with snow and mud tend to know it quite well.

After both the spouse and I went over 100k miles on the original brakes in our respective non-hybrids (Acura & Honda), I was disappointed when my Subaru needed new front pads at just 92k.

 

I have two prises with original brake pads.. One car I just has the dealer look at had 60 percent left in front and 50 in back.... Or was it 40 & 50?
Anyway, it's a lot for 200k on both!

Alan.. Sent with Tapatalk 2