At its most basic purpose, left-foot braking can be used to decrease the time spent moving the right foot between the brake and throttle pedals, and can also be used to control load transfer. It is most commonly used in auto racing (simultaneous gas and brake keeps turbo pressure and reduces turbo lag).

Hard acceleration occurs when more force than normal is applied to the vehicle’s accelerator. An example of this would be when a driver slams on the gas pedal to make it through an intersection before a traffic light changes. Hard acceleration wastes fuel as the throttle is opened more than necessary.

Abrupt weight transfer can upset the car’s balance, but left-foot braking allows for overlap of pedal applications, helping to smooth that out. As with any driving technique, left-foot braking takes practice, so it’s probably not a good idea to try it on public roads unless you have it down pat.

“When using both feet, you could be riding your brakes, which is not good for your car’s brakes because they’ll wear out faster. You will also be confusing the drivers behind you when your brake lights keep coming on and off, and that’s not safe driving,” said Malik, who has been a driving educator for about 20 years.

Rally drivers use their left foot for braking for a couple of reasons: If you brake with your right foot, you lose precious fractions of a second moving your right foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal. Left-foot braking solves this. Brakes slow the car down, gas speeds it up.

However, most people aren’t that conscious of what both feet are doing and end up riding the brake with the left foot. At the least, this will flash or light up the brake lights without necessarily actually activating the brakes.

By using only one foot, you have to remove your foot from the “gas pedal” in order to brake. The reason you drive with one foot is because before there were automatic transmission cars, you needed to depress the clutch to shift gears in the standard transmission vehicles.

right foot

When driving an automatic car, you would mostly use the right foot only for braking or accelerating in normal driving conditions; as you would in a manual vehicle. If you need to do some manoeuvring, it is ok to use both feet lightly; left on the brake and right on the gas.

The most often-cited reason that drivers of automatic cars should still use one foot is the idea that, if you use both feet and accidentally step on both pedals at once, you can do serious damage to your car — specifically, putting strain on the torque converter, transmission fluid, and brake fluid.

Instead, F1 drivers pee inside their race suits during the race. They simply pee inside their suits.

Some Formula 1 race cars still have three pedals, but only the middle and right pedals (brake and throttle) are attached. Some racing teams installed a third pedal, or plate, where the clutch used to be as a footrest for the driver. Drivers use it to brace themselves during hard turns.