Obviously that's less than an ideal situation

[wemorgan]

I love the phrase at the end.

"Obviously that's less than an ideal situation"

[YOUTUBE]_UeHc6rp3rI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Carrsey]

O dear..

 

[pawnie]

Oops.

 

[Dieselman]

He must have been used to left foot braking..

 

[pawnie]

Or driving an automatic and was braking when guy first
told him to break.
old duffer then got confused took his foot off the break and stamped on the clutch.
This is why over 60's should have licence taken away and replaced with free bus and rail pass........
(Said with tongue in cheek)

 

[ringway]

The first automatic I drove was my grandfather's 1981 Honda Accord. I'd be in my early 20's. I set off and then with my left foot used the brake as the clutch.

Young Ringway, Les drives a manual VW Golf and if he drives any of my vehicles I always tell him to tuck his left leg away towards the seat. He works part time for me and he is allowed to drive the V6 Vito and the 2.6 202 but not the 22yr old 124 230TE. That 124 is the slowest car I've had in many a year and I suspect the reason they won't insure him is the lack of on-board safety equipment and perhaps the brakes aren't as good as today's cars.


One of my many attemps to teach Mrs Ringway to drive was in my VX Omega 3.0ltr. I wanted her to just pass her test in an auto and then she could have that car. However, on more than one occasion she got the pedals confused. Once was approaching a junction to a main road and after slowing down we then hurtled forwards and stopped with around a metre of the car sticking out of the junction. She's never mastered the art of driving and the truth is, she just does not want to drive.

 

[artyman]

Perhaps it's old habits die hard but having driven manuals for over forty years I still use the right foot for accelerator and brake, so unlikely to confuse the clutch pedal should I find myself in a manual again. I would have thought the lack of decceleration would have alerted that plonker to the fact he was doing something wrong and checked where his feet were!

 

[Dieselman]

I suspect he was a novice driver and got confused. Note he was looking down at the pedals.

 

[MOCAŠ]

I'm too embarrassed to admit that I did exactly the same thing in a V12 E-Type just last week.

 

[wemorgan]

I'm too embarrassed to admit that I did exactly the same thing in a V12 E-Type just last week.

rumour has it the brakes are next to useless - so maybe you had the correct pedal after all

I've pressed the brake pedal when wanting to press the clutch - that gives an exciting moment too

 

[Charles Morgan]

I switch between manuals and autos daily, all of which have slightly different pedal positions, in the case of the SM, manual gearbox on the right not left and in the Allard the gearchange is on a stalk on the steering column on the left, in a dogleg. Add in different control stalks (I hate MB for changing the side of the stalk as I have one pre and one post car) and I do occasionally switch the wipers on instead of indicate or vice versa.

However I have never hit the clutch when I should be braking. I use the right foot to brake and accelerate, the left foot is only ever used to change gear. On a track day, you cannot have to think about where your feet go, it has to be instinctive, so it must be as Dieselman says, left foot braker but not a novice, just too old to think sensibly.

 

[BEJ]

I learned how to use left foot braking in my rallying days. I always use my left foot for braking in automatic cars - two pedals, two feet - imho gives maybe a split second difference to stopping distance in an emergency.
I also drive my wifes car, which is a manual change gearbox and have never mixed up which foot to use. Not all older drivers are numpties which seems to be the thought processes of some younger drivers.

 

[MOCAŠ]

rumour has it the brakes are next to useless - so maybe you had the correct pedal after all

I've pressed the brake pedal when wanting to press the clutch - that gives an exciting moment too

I put my incident down to a number of factors. Firstly, the pedals in the E-Type are quite narrow and close together; then there's the fact that I hadn't driven a manual since selling the Fabia back in January; but I think the real reason is that I was taken by surprise when my navigator pointed out our turning at the last minute. And for some reason, when my (right) foot found the clutch rather than the brake, my first thought wasn't that I had the wrong pedal but that the brakes had failed...

 

[Dieselman]

And for some reason, when my (right) foot found the clutch rather than the brake, my first thought wasn't that I had the wrong pedal but that the brakes had failed...

As Will says, they probably had.

 

[MOCAŠ]

As Will says, they probably had.

No, they actually weren't too bad at all (assuming they'd been actuated). Likewise the headlamps, the illumination from which Jonathan Glancey once memorably described as a "glow". On the very late car I had, everything seemed to work quite well, although the ergonomics left a lot to be desired and the hood was a bit of a pig to operate.

 

[Charles Morgan]

You trading in your X1/9 for an E type then Mocas?

 

[MOCAŠ]

You trading in your X1/9 for an E type then Mocas?

No, just hired one for a couple of days.

 

[magic77]

Thats pretty much what happened at Mercedes world few years back except the car ended-up down the road heading for a playground. Cue now tons of barrriers and track is now split up to reduce speed.