From: Ashton Crusher on 16 Jun 2010 18:36 Many people can't seem to fathom that anyone can use their left foot to brake without careening out of control yet people routinely switch from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right side with no difficulty. Maybe the average American driver is just to stupid to do either and only Asians are capable of such complex tasks. Here's a proposed solution to the switch from the right side to the left side of the road for a Hong Kong - Mainland china route. http://www.fastcompany.com/1660258/traffic-report-how-to-switch-to-the-other-side-of-the-road-without-causing-a-70-car-pileup?partner=yahoobuzz Let the frothing begin.
From: Jim Yanik on 16 Jun 2010 18:59 lil abner <@daisy.mae> wrote in news:wtcSn.28856$%u7.23202(a)newsfe14.iad: > Ashton Crusher wrote: >> Many people can't seem to fathom that anyone can use their left foot >> to brake without careening out of control yet people routinely switch >> from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right >> side with no difficulty. Maybe the average American driver is just >> to stupid to do either and only Asians are capable of such complex >> tasks. >> >> Here's a proposed solution to the switch from the right side to the >> left side of the road for a Hong Kong - Mainland china route. >> >> http://www.fastcompany.com/1660258/traffic-report-how-to-switch-to-the >> -other-side-of-the-road-without-causing-a-70-car-pileup?partner=yahoob >> uzz >> >> Let the frothing begin. > It was always the way people were taught to drive with a clutch. Until > not too many years ago most cars and trucks were manual transmissions. > I guess though you are just trying to stir up something. Yes,definitely to stir things up. > Well,his first problem is his assertion that people routinely switch from "driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right side with no difficulty". It's NOT the same thing,and people who visit countries with driving on a different side than their own country,often have problems. They often revert back to their accustomed driving,particularly under pressure. It's that "habit" thing I've posted about before. that's why people train to do a complex task the SAME way every time,to develop it into a habit,a reflex action,expressly to eliminate confusion. It's also called "consistency". Left foot braking has its place on the race track,but not on public roads. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at localnet dot com
From: Harry K on 16 Jun 2010 23:43 On Jun 16, 3:44 pm, lil abner <@daisy.mae> wrote: > Ashton Crusher wrote: > > Many people can't seem to fathom that anyone can use their left foot > > to brake without careening out of control yet people routinely switch > > from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right side > > with no difficulty. Maybe the average American driver is just to > > stupid to do either and only Asians are capable of such complex tasks. > > > Here's a proposed solution to the switch from the right side to the > > left side of the road for a Hong Kong - Mainland china route. > > >http://www.fastcompany.com/1660258/traffic-report-how-to-switch-to-th... > > > Let the frothing begin. > > It was always the way people were taught to drive with a clutch. Until > not too many years ago most cars and trucks were manual transmissions. > I guess though you are just trying to stir up something. Yes, he got his rear handed to him on a plate the last time he tried to promote LFB. Harry K
From: Ashton Crusher on 17 Jun 2010 00:55 On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:59:15 -0500, Jim Yanik <jyanik(a)abuse.gov> wrote: >lil abner <@daisy.mae> wrote in news:wtcSn.28856$%u7.23202(a)newsfe14.iad: > >> Ashton Crusher wrote: >>> Many people can't seem to fathom that anyone can use their left foot >>> to brake without careening out of control yet people routinely switch >>> from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right >>> side with no difficulty. Maybe the average American driver is just >>> to stupid to do either and only Asians are capable of such complex >>> tasks. >>> >>> Here's a proposed solution to the switch from the right side to the >>> left side of the road for a Hong Kong - Mainland china route. >>> >>> http://www.fastcompany.com/1660258/traffic-report-how-to-switch-to-the >>> -other-side-of-the-road-without-causing-a-70-car-pileup?partner=yahoob >>> uzz >>> >>> Let the frothing begin. >> It was always the way people were taught to drive with a clutch. Until >> not too many years ago most cars and trucks were manual transmissions. >> I guess though you are just trying to stir up something. > >Yes,definitely to stir things up. >> > >Well,his first problem is his assertion that people routinely switch from >"driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right side with no >difficulty". >It's NOT the same thing,and people who visit countries with driving on a >different side than their own country,often have problems. They often >revert back to their accustomed driving,particularly under pressure. It's >that "habit" thing I've posted about before. >that's why people train to do a complex task the SAME way every time,to >develop it into a habit,a reflex action,expressly to eliminate confusion. >It's also called "consistency". > So you think the people who will be using that bridge are going to stop in the middle and take training classes???
From: Alexander Rogge on 19 Jun 2010 18:31
Ashton Crusher wrote: > You'd like to think so yet you never presented a shred of evidence for > any of your assertions whereas just the straight physics of the > situation prove LFB is superior. There are several problems related to braking with the left foot. The most noticeable is that the pedal positions in modern cars are often not intended to be used with the left foot, particularly those pedal configurations in cars with clutchless transmissions. It is not comfortable to hold the brake with the left foot, not without shifting the body in the seat. It is also difficult to apply maximum braking pressure because the left leg is at the wrong angle to the brake pedal. Left Foot Braking is possible for the situations intended in rapid braking and acceleration, but braking with the left foot as a regular method of slowing and stopping the car is not recommended unless the pedal configuration was designed to support this behaviour. An additional problem arises when considering that, in a situation requiring the application of maximum braking pressure and no forward acceleration, the likely and often unavoidable result would be that the driver pushes on both the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal while attempting to stop the car. Unless the heel of the right foot is shifted at such an angle in contrast to the normal driving position for forward acceleration, the right foot will be pushed down onto the pedal by the braking force as the driver's body is pulled forward. This is the intended result of Left Foot Braking. I want the contact wheels to be accelerated while the brake callipers close on the free wheels. That's what provides the control mechanism. To abort the manoeuvre and stop completely requires that my right foot be pulled back forcibly, and that is not easy when the car is being decelerated at such a rate as would be provided by a modern braking system and the associated cornering manoeuvre. A collision or a rollover can occur during the delay between the shifting of the pedal positions and the subsequent confusion in the few seconds before the car responds to the driver's changed intentions. During a panic stop, a method of crashing is attempting to ascertain which foot is on which pedal, while also attempting to steer and avoid other objects in fractions of a second. There is no way to hold the right foot directly over the accelerator pedal during hard cornering, while also braking and turning the steering wheel. The problem is not related to mental concentration; it is simply impossible to safely hold the right foot in that heeled position while the driver's body is being forced forward and to the side directions as the car is stopped and turned. In a normal car with a clutch, braking with the left foot during a panic stop also means that the driver can stall the car because the clutch pedal is not depressed. This would mean that that driver would be unable to continue driving if moving the car became necessary to avoid another collision immediately. The proper procedure is to brake with the right foot, depress the clutch with the left foot, and prepare to shift back to first-gear and accelerate away from the area. I know of no driving school, including the school where I received instructions of Left Foot Braking, that teaches the method of stopping the car with the left foot while the right foot is held in a heeled position over the accelerator pedal. There very good reasons for this omission, topics regarding safety and some difficulties which I have hopefully made clear. |