Is it legal to drive with your left foot?
Kicking a footy with your left foot might be considered skilful, but the same can’t be said for driving with your left foot. Here’s why.
Is it legal?
While it’s not actually illegal to use your left foot to accelerate and brake on roads in Australia, there are safety risks to ambidextrous driving.
Is it safe?
While you can’t be fined specifically for driving with your left foot, you are more at risk of losing proper control of the vehicle. In fact, you can be fined $228, plus a $105 Victims of Crime Levy for this offence.
Cars are primarily designed to be driven with the right foot. According to RAA Senior Manager of Safety and Infrastructure Charles Mountain, using the left foot to brake and accelerate can potentially lead to pedal confusion. This term refers to a driver who mistakenly presses the wrong pedal, often the accelerator instead of the brake.
“That’s why it’s advised to only use the right foot for operating the accelerator and brake when you’re driving on public roads,” Charles says.
“The reason for using your right foot is when the foot is removed from the accelerator in order to brake, it’s not possible to inadvertently accelerate.
“Although there have been examples of this where drivers haven’t realised which pedal they were pressing.”
Exceptions to the unwritten rule
If you’ve ever gone from driving an automatic vehicle to a car with a manual transmission, it probably feels strange to use your left foot on the clutch. In this instance, it’s standard practise to use your left. But here’s where your left foot can get you in trouble.
When your left foot applies pressure on the clutch pedal without fully pressing it down, you’re likely ‘riding the clutch’, which can damage your vehicle. To avoid the chances of this happening, rest your left foot on the footrest (also known as the dead pedal), typically found to the left of the clutch in a manual, until you need to use your foot.
Did you know using the left foot to brake is also common trackside? Most professional race car drivers use their left foot to brake so they can quickly apply more force to the brake pedal, which is crucial for maintaining control when travelling at high speeds around corners.
That said, most of us aren’t professional race car drivers, and public roads certainly aren’t racetracks. This is when it’s best to keep your left foot firmly planted on the footrest, leaving your right foot to do the work.
Final word
“Driving using your left foot isn’t required, nor is it safe, and should definitely not be practised on public roads,” Charles says.
As for using both feet interchangeably at the pedals, that’s an entirely different story – literally. Check out our article on whether it’s a good idea to use both feet when driving an automatic.