Brake and Accelerator Confusion

[alexgorod]

Driver relies on their long established two pedal driving muscle memory to slam the pedal they are on

Regular driving, both one and two pedal, requires the same set of reflexes - for quickly slowing down, and especially for hard braking, the driver needs to move the foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal and press it hard. But moving slowly in tight places, or inching forward or backward, is totally opposite - with normal, 2P driving, lifting off the brake pedal allows the car to move, and pressing it - stops it. With 1P - opposite. I definitely see how it can cause confusion and accidents, and switch to 2PD for this kind of maneuvers.

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[Engelbert]

Besides that the words are brake and braking, you have zero idea what's in someone's head at that point of panic. Zero.

Unless, you know, maybe somebody has asked and documented what was in their head at that point of panic.

Drivers' own comments, immediately after crashes in which their vehicles recorded that the pedal position was gas all the way down, brake all the way up, typically follow this pattern:

Officer/paramedic/investigator/other: "What were you doing?"

Driver: "I was braking."

And that's as related by an expert vehicle safety investigator personally known to me, not a clairvoyant nor an internet weirdo. I'm not sure whether the numbers have been distilled and published, as I haven't searched for them (nor have I had to, for obvious reasons). But it's a very, very common outcome. Very.

I don't know any of you people, but @jlauro was spot on with their comment.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

It seems obvious to me.... When learning 1PD you're actively trying to train yourself to *stop* using the brake pedal. Combine that with an "oh sh**" moment which triggers your "push foot hard!" reflex, and this is what you get.

No.

When you’re learning how to use 1Pd you train yourself to feather the accelerator to slow down the car just as with an ICE vehicle, maintain its speed, or bring it to a low speed to transition to full manual braking. At no point are you training yourself to stop using the brake pedal. If you are, you’re doing it wrong.

 

[DevSecOps]

My bad on the spell. That said, talk about hyperbole... as the study previously mentioned by someone earlier in this thread, that appears to be the case for about 16,000 crashes a year, so a fair amount more than Zero.

He has me ignored, so he didn't see my post. I wouldn't normally defend him, and I'm not really, but it's of relevance to his comment.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Your tow driver did well. Front wheels off the ground. Back wheels on dolly so… also off the ground. Perfect execution.

 

[Jimrpa]

Not sure I can agree. When we switched away from manual to automatic did we blame automatics for "confusion"? I agree with @jwhamlin244 that the actual pedals are the same as any other automatic transmission. 1PD just slows you more.

In this case the accelerator HAD to be depressed, there's no car on earth where pushing an accelerator = braking. Even with 1PD, pushing it never = braking.

When I was a paramedic we would see this happen all the time with elderly people. It's just a sign that it's time to stop driving in many of those cases, but not all. I think there's a higher likelihood of someone thinking they are in reverse because of the stupid gear shit twisty thing and actually being in drive.

I really hate to say it, but what you say matches the experience of all my friends. They’ve all had to go through the phase of having “that discussion” with their parents and almost every parent has done this (or something very similar) more than once before they got the car keys. One parent managed to back through a guard rail and down a 5 foot embankment. Another parent was out driving at 2:30 AM (and no, they weren’t headed to “da club”) and forgot where they were. They just stopped their car in the road and got out to begin walking. Happily, officer friendly finished the donut run and happened to come by first.

 

[Jimrpa]

But I think Rick has me ignored so he'll never see this... shucks

That’s stupid (to use ignore except in very extreme cases coupled with reports to the administrators). Even if you may not agree, you lose the context in discussions! Oh well ?‍

 

[Jimrpa]

Not sure why the conversation pivoted towards 1PD. But coming back to topic, the 2nd tow guy was innovative. He lifted the back wheel and rolled it forward and then put it on a dolly. The front tire was busted so couldn’t tow it.

I don’t see any evidence of body damage.

 

[Mr67gta]

Glad I'm a 2 foot driver. Left foot brake, right foot go.

 

[RickMachE]

I don’t see any evidence of body damage.

Entire front end is ripped up to start. If front tire blew there may be suspension damage. Hopefully the battery pack was not damaged.

 

[BMT1071]

That’s stupid (to use ignore except in very extreme cases coupled with reports to the administrators). Even if you may not agree, you lose the context in discussions! Oh well ?‍

Not really. There are a number of users of this forum that contribute nothing of value. On the very rare occasion I feel the need to establish context I can click to show ignored content and read their trash post.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

That’s stupid (to use ignore except in very extreme cases coupled with reports to the administrators). Even if you may not agree, you lose the context in discussions! Oh well ?‍

There's a setting to allow you to get hints about context should you want a hint about context existing.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Not really. There are a number of users of this forum that contribute nothing of value. On the very rare occasion I feel the need to establish context I can click to show ignored content and read their trash post.

HEY, I AM RIGHT HERE!

(hoping you see this ?)

 

[alexgorod]

Glad I'm a 2 foot driver. Left foot brake, right foot go.

Is your left foot resting on the floor next to the brake pedal when you not pressing it? Hanging over it?

 

[Mr67gta]

Is your left foot resting on the floor next to the brake pedal when you not pressing it? Hanging over it?

A little of both, depending on the situation at hand

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