Should We All Be Braking With Our Left Foot?

When I was taught to drive, I was told by my driving instructors that my right foot was for controlling the pedals. Unless you drive a vehicle with a manual transmission and need that appendage for the clutch, or you participate in rally races, you were probably taught the same thing. Is it possible, though, that we could we increase braking reaction time if we just let our left foot take over the brake?

Here at The News Wheel, we all wear many hats, and one of mine is to post for our site on Facebook. This week I shared an article about Ohio’s distracted driving course, and we got a comment from someone named Trevor Frith. The comment was long-winded, as was the website he linked to, but it implied that if braking with our left foot was the norm, crash numbers could fall because of quicker reaction times. I was intrigued.

In June of 2018, Wyatt Knox of Team O’Neil Rally School covered the topic for a YouTube video, and he agrees with Frith (albeit in a much clearer and concise way). Knox said that reaction time improves in emergency braking situations if your left foot is poised over the pedal. He points out that it might only save you a fraction of a second, but considering that your vehicle moves at about 100 feet per second when you’re driving 70 mph, that difference could shave feet off of your emergency stopping distance. Even just using the skill in difficult situations like snow or fog can make learning the skill worth it, he says.

Since most of us have been braking with our right foot our whole driving lives, changing how everyone drives will never be an easy task. Personally, I have wide hips that make braking with my left foot a little awkward. While experts should test this braking method before we make any official recommendations, consider trying it out for yourself in a safe, low-traffic area.