sitting at lights with foot on the brakes - why

alastairq

alistairq - I gave many reasons in my post why you should be on your handbrake. Firmly planting your size 11s on the brake will cause fatigue for one. I would also suggest you have a look at what happens to the pedals in a crash in modern cars - hint: you don't want your feet to be on them!

Firstly, I don't sit at lights long enough to get fatigue.....and I know what happens to pedals, however.......I'm willing to bet virtually no-one on here makes a conscious effort to remove their feet from the pedal area once stopped, with handbrake applied. If they do, then perhaps therein lies an answer to another thread about why drivers take so long to move off on the green light?

The issue surrounding the use of handbrake [now mandatory on test, if at the front at a red light..but not mandatory if behind...the secret is.....'is the car made safe?] arose , as I said before, when the DSA were tasked to sort the issue of rear-end shunts pushing vehicles out into the path of others at t/lights.

At the same time, we encountered issues with the propensity of high-level brake lights, LED lights, etc, causing an irritation to drivers behind. Volvo back in the 1980's issued a warning to owners to not sit on the foot brakes, because they had fitted high level brake lights.


But....if one's vehicle does not have high level lights, then there is no difference in terms of irritation to others, than there had been for 30 years beforehand.


But, if we are getting into the realms of 'what is correct procedure'...then how many of you lot, when stationary, turning right, in the centre of the road,actually, consciously, position your cars parallel to the direction of oncoming traffic, with your front wheels absolutely dead straight [another DSA thing, expected of hte likes of me, but not of other folk?]

The above which has come about to try and alleviate the issue of rear-end shunts pushing vehicles again, right into the paths of oncoming traffic?


How many actually apply the handbrake, but then sit with their feet resting on the brake pedal? [still lighting up the brake lights?]

I'm happy to admit, for my own driving purposes, I often don't apply the handbrake, as I said before. Perhaps I won't be there long enough? Maybe nobody is sitting behind me?

Sometimes I do apply the handbrake......much will depend on the situation at the time.....[especially what type of gearbox I'm driving ].

But, for me, that's ok...as long as the vehicle is 'made safe'.

scheming_gypsy

not sure what the 'pedals in a crash' has to do with anything. That only really occurs when the front end hits something at high speed.
If you're stopped and the car in front of you is stopped, you're going to need one hell of a whack from behind for it to affect your pedals. and if you do, what's happened to your feet will be the least of your worries.

thefishdude

i drive mini busses and 7.5 tonne vechiles as part of my job and when i started i was taken out in the vechiles for a day to see how i drove them. the man was from an externalcompany and i drove round with him for the day. and he said to allways make sure i stopped at lights and kept foot on thebreak and not use to hand break. and he showed me some stats relation to rear end shunts on vechils showing that the extra visibilit of having your break lights lit up reduced the chance of a rear end smash.

goonarmy

alastairq wrote: »

Firstly, I don't sit at lights long enough to get fatigue.....and I know what happens to pedals, however.......I'm willing to bet virtually no-one on here makes a conscious effort to remove their feet from the pedal area once stopped, with handbrake applied. If they do, then perhaps therein lies an answer to another thread about why drivers take so long to move off on the green light?

The issue surrounding the use of handbrake [now mandatory on test, if at the front at a red light..but not mandatory if behind...the secret is.....'is the car made safe?] arose , as I said before, when the DSA were tasked to sort the issue of rear-end shunts pushing vehicles out into the path of others at t/lights.

At the same time, we encountered issues with the propensity of high-level brake lights, LED lights, etc, causing an irritation to drivers behind. Volvo back in the 1980's issued a warning to owners to not sit on the foot brakes, because they had fitted high level brake lights.


But....if one's vehicle does not have high level lights, then there is no difference in terms of irritation to others, than there had been for 30 years beforehand.


But, if we are getting into the realms of 'what is correct procedure'...then how many of you lot, when stationary, turning right, in the centre of the road,actually, consciously, position your cars parallel to the direction of oncoming traffic, with your front wheels absolutely dead straight [another DSA thing, expected of hte likes of me, but not of other folk?]

The above which has come about to try and alleviate the issue of rear-end shunts pushing vehicles again, right into the paths of oncoming traffic?


How many actually apply the handbrake, but then sit with their feet resting on the brake pedal? [still lighting up the brake lights?]

I'm happy to admit, for my own driving purposes, I often don't apply the handbrake, as I said before. Perhaps I won't be there long enough? Maybe nobody is sitting behind me?

Sometimes I do apply the handbrake......much will depend on the situation at the time.....[especially what type of gearbox I'm driving ].

But, for me, that's ok...as long as the vehicle is 'made safe'.

Your rambling lost me. Do you put yer foot on the brake or not?

marleyboy

goonarmy wrote: »

Your rambling lost me. Do you put yer foot on the brake or not?

Originally Posted by alastairq
I'm happy to admit, for my own driving purposes, I often don't apply the handbrake, as I said before. Perhaps I won't be there long enough? Maybe nobody is sitting behind me?

Sometimes I do apply the handbrake......much will depend on the situation at the time.....[especially what type of gearbox I'm driving ].

I would imagine everyone driving a vehicle puts their foot on the brake pedal occasionally. Using the handbrake to stop a vehicle could prove fatal.

almillar

neilmcl - I think we disagree on the term 'variable'.
Brake lights are either on or off - is that variable?
Emergency braking systems, as a collective, trigger extra lighting - be it triggering the hazard lights, or the ones you describe, extra brake lights. This only happens under extreme braking. I still don't call that variable, the original description seemed to be of brake lights that got PROGRESSIVELY brighter as you pressed harder on the pedal. THAT system does NOT exist on UK roads.
TrickyWicky - It doesn't exist, simple! I can, of course believe things without seeing them, I just didn't like having the burden of proof thrust upon me to prove there's no such thing, when it would have been much easier to provide evidence that it does. Don't just tell me to Google it, that would be the answer to everything!
alistairq -

I'm willing to bet virtually no-one on here makes a conscious effort to remove their feet from the pedal area once stopped, with handbrake applied.

I do - this is absolutely no problem at all, the exception being when you're at the FRONT of the queue, otherwise you've got stacks of warning and plenty of time.
When I passed my driving test, the rule was 'if stopped, handbrake on', no exceptions - it's one of the first habits you want to get out of, but it's the most foolproof method.
If you start thinking about what height your brake lights are at, shouldn't you be considering what height the driver behind you is at? Lorry? MG Midget? Going a bit (a lot) far...
You mention that if you think you're going to move off 'soon' that you don't use the handbrake - me neither, I thought we'd already established that was fine once you've passed your 'L' test.
scheming_gypsy:

not sure what the 'pedals in a crash' has to do with anything. That only really occurs when the front end hits something at high speed.
If you're stopped and the car in front of you is stopped, you're going to need one hell of a whack from behind for it to affect your pedals. and if you do, what's happened to your feet will be the least of your worries.

You're right, but I guess the most extreme example is turning right on a 70mph motorway. The pedals are designed to get out of the way of your legs in an impact, you don't want to have your feet on them. Good habit to be in because you won't have time to take them off if the time ever comes.