Someone hadn't driven an automatic before...

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
10/09/2015 at 10:58 • Filed to: None

Was following a new Jaaaaag XF and after a turn the brakes suddenly slammed on for no reason, then the driver waved to apologise and continued. I can only assume they were putting their foot down for a clutch and hit the brake, since most people around here haven’t ever driven an auto.

DISCUSSION (23)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 11:00

OMG, I do that every time I end up in a car with a slushbox.

macanamera > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 11:02

...I doubt that, manual cars still have a brake pedal.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 11:05

I drove my sister’s Golf for a week... at the end of it I was hunting for something to do with my left foot.

duurtlang > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 11:08

I’ve done that as well. Cars with an automatic transmission feel unnatural to me, as I’m so incredibly used to having a clutch pedal. When coming to a stop at a traffic light using your left foot for the clutch pedal while none is available is recognizable as well. The XL brake pedal in an automatic makes things worse.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
10/09/2015 at 11:09

The only couple I’ve driven I had to keep my foot glued to the dead pedal so I didn’t forget.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > duurtlang
10/09/2015 at 11:10

Yeah it’s really strange to me too, manual is second nature to me. I’ve never accidentally hit the brake before but I haven’t ever driven an auto on the road, only on track days.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
10/09/2015 at 11:11

It would be really strange for me to daily an auto now, manual becomes second nature once you’re used to it.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > macanamera
10/09/2015 at 11:12

But they aren’t as large, many autos have a brake pedal that reaches to where a clutch would usually be.

Kinja'd!!!

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > macanamera
10/09/2015 at 11:14

Yes but the brake pedal extends to where the clutch pedal should be, and if you’re used to a manual, this can and most likely will happen.

source: happened to a friend of mine

iSureWilll > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 11:15

When I left work yesterday, there was this lady in her 40s (probably) in a MK6 base model Jetta manual that would literally FLOOR it each time she had to move forward in traffic. Every. Single. Time. It was unbelievable...

Minardi Gras > macanamera
10/09/2015 at 11:16

The brake pedal in (most) autos is much wider. It usually comes over to where your left foot is expecting a clutch. Accidentally slamming on the brakes at lights/ whilst parking is so easy to do. Annoyingly, once you get used to that you’ll usually stall your car at lights at least once after switching back.

djmt1 > macanamera
10/09/2015 at 11:16

In the UK, it is drilled into your head when learning to NEVER use your left foot for braking. So with muscle memory being a bitch, I can fully see it happening.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > iSureWilll
10/09/2015 at 11:19

We had a neighbour that did that, he went through a clutch every 10’000 miles or so.

nerd_racing > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
10/09/2015 at 11:33

I almost bounced my mom’s head off the dash in their traverse because I spiked the brakes with my clutch foot...

iSureWilll > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 11:34

That is crazy! A clutch in 10k miles?!

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > iSureWilll
10/09/2015 at 11:49

Yep his driving was that bad.

Cé hé sin > djmt1
10/09/2015 at 12:02

I always left foot brake automatics and will continue so to do.

djmt1 > Cé hé sin
10/09/2015 at 12:08

Oh I should of added how 97% of people in UK learn to drive manual. They probably don’t say that in Automatic lessons.

this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 13:10

I sometimes try to leave a parking space in park, because gear selector thing all the way forward = in first gear.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata
10/09/2015 at 14:06

I could see myself doing that.

gizmo-ms3 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 14:33

I do stupid shit every time I drive an auto. One time I was moving a friends 500 hp SVT Lightning. I started it with the brake and gas pedal floored in a closed garage. All the way to redline with a huge cloud of smoke. Oops. Dat supercharger whine do.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/09/2015 at 18:53

i shouldn’t laugh , i’ve done it.

Nauraushaun > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
10/10/2015 at 17:48

I came here to say that I don’t think that’s it. That the accelerator and brake are in a similar position in auto and manual, and that your clutch foor naturally reaches the foot rest on the far left. I think it’s very unnatural to put your left foot on the brake, even when you are missing a pedal.

But it seems a lot of commenters have done that so I’m lost. I drive autos very rarely, but even so I never have this problem. I tend to stab at where the clutch would be sometimes, but that’s not the same as hitting the brake. But maybe it’s something to do with certain cars.