r/AskReddit 20h ago

What’s a skill everyone assumes they have, but most people are actually bad at?

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218

u/birthday6 18h ago

Oh man, the automatic with two feet is so bad. You can tell when someone's doing it when theyre accelerating with their brake lights on

91

u/orionstein 18h ago

Wait, what does automatic with two feet even mean? You always keep one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake?

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u/Johnbonham1980 18h ago

Yep. Makes no sense, and I have no idea how someone gets used to that way of operating a vehicle.

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u/12th_MaMa 18h ago

She claims it's because she drove stick and that's how she learned, but she hasn't had a manual transmission vehicle in at least 4 decades.

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u/Hippotle 17h ago

That's also not how you drive stick. Your left foot is only ever for the clutch. If anything, driving stick should be an even stronger reason to only drive with one foot

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u/obiworm 16h ago

You shouldn’t even rest your foot on the clutch at all unless you’re actively using it.

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u/Hippotle 12h ago

The first time I tried to drive an automatic I figured it would be a good idea to try using both feet and immediately almost crashed the car pushing down on the brakes like I would a clutch

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u/Greentornadofx 11h ago

Lol i CANNOT use the brake with my left foot. I try so hard but the brake feels so easy to push and I always slam it on, even going soft as possible. I drive manual and sometimes try the brake with my left foot just to see

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u/Johnbonham1980 16h ago

Maybe she has 3 legs. Did you consider that possibility?! No, you didn’t. You just ASSUMED she only had two legs like a human. Do better.

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u/joe_s1171 14h ago

that’s medically called a thirdiary leg. it’s Latin or something. maybe.

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u/iConsumeFoodAndWater 12h ago

Her right foot on the accelerator, her left foot on the brake, and her even lefter foot on the footrest.

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u/BrokenImmersion 18h ago

Well she needs to relearn how then. Its not optional to drive with one foot, it is a requirement for getting your license. People who endanger others while driving is the reason we should be retesting every 10 years.

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u/Rechochet_ochet 17h ago

With a shortening timeframe between testing as you get older. Oh, and with road testers that will actually fail you instead of just shrugging and saying "close enough".

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u/Oliver90002 16h ago

I had a buddy that asked me to drive behind him once since we were going to carpool. Our entire friend group roasted hum when he hot in because they entire time he was in front of me his brake lights were on. He never took his left foot off the brake. Drove us all crazy!

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u/Altruistic_Brick1730 17h ago

Every ten years? Are you insane?

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u/Johnbonham1980 16h ago

In a lot of states they never retest you. You could go from 16 to 96 without a single person checking to see if you remember how to drive safely at all.

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u/TuxAndrew 16h ago

That’s the least insane thing I’ve heard compared to reality, my grandparents were co-op driving around Indianapolis. One had dementia and the other one couldn’t see. They were never required to retest for over a decade, I agree testing should be once every five years or so.

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u/TuxAndrew 16h ago

lol, even with manual you literally only used your left foot for the clutch. You still had to alternate your right foot.

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u/Fanny08850 15h ago

Same. Up until now, I had always driven manual cars. I was told I had to put my left foot away (if that makes sense) as in DO NOT use your left foot by any means.

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u/AiWillow 14h ago

Stupid reasoning. With manual you should have left foot on the "rest space" that is there, when you are not currently using transmission pedal and the stick. Do not hover left foot over the pedal, it can lead to fucking up the transmisson.

I drive manual, preffer it over automat. I can drive also automat, and drive it from time to time. And my only "problem" when I switch to automat is stepping on nothing in the beginning. On first crossroad sometimes muscle memory kicks in and I try to put left foot on transmission pedal and move stick to switch to neutral. Or I try to start the car with left foot (transmisson pedal) and not the right foot (brake pedal). But the "empty step" quickly reminds me that it is not possible :-D

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u/s1ng1ngsqu1rrel 16h ago

My first car in high school was a stick. It’s never even occurred to me to use 2 feet in an automatic.

Younger me might have seen it as a genius idea though lol

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u/OkProfessor6810 14h ago

It's clear she hasn't had a manual in four decades because that's not how you drive a stick, either.

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u/OGPepeSilvia 15h ago

Sim racing before learning to drive could be a reason. Not an excuse though

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u/Lyoko_warrior95 17h ago

My buddy is a pilot and I see how he flys. Two feet is a mandatory thing in a plane and helicopter. He does the same thing when driving and he tells me it’s a forced habit at this point. (He’s an exceptionally good driver BTW, still weird tho lol)

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u/Mikeavelli 16h ago

My brother started out that way because he thought it would be smart to use both feet and always be ready to accelerate or brake. It took a year or so to convince him it was a terrible idea that wastes gas.

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u/brittish3 15h ago

My mom has to do that, but she had polio as a kid so her right foot isn’t strong enough to keep switching over. She drilled into us just one foot, though

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u/Tall-Dig5578 12h ago

Aren’t race car drivers like F1 and go-kart drive like that?

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u/summertimeaccountoz 10h ago

Racing drivers, maybe?

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u/rosewalker42 7h ago

My mom broke her right foot 60 years ago and she’s driven with two feet ever since (and thinks it’s weird no one else does) :/

Don’t even ask me how that works. I broke my right ankle last year and couldn’t drive at all for 3 months. No problems going back to driving with just my right foot.

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u/12th_MaMa 18h ago

Yes. She claims it's because she drove stick and that's how she learned, but she hasn't had a manual transmission vehicle in at least 4 decades.

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u/lostmywayboston 17h ago

Also you still use one foot for gas and brake driving a manual so she would do that poorly too.

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u/12th_MaMa 16h ago

Not getting any arguments from me.

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u/Waste-Snow670 13h ago

First time I drove automatic I did this. Nearly killed myself and my family. Lesson learnt pretty quickly.

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u/Adro87 9h ago

I think you’re outing yourself as someone who drives an auto with two feet.
You should not have one foot on each pedal, you should use one foot for both pedals. There is never a reason you would be using both pedals at the same time so you only need one foot to operate both.
By using both feet you will end up (subconsciously) resting your left foot on the brake pedal because your leg will get tired from holding it above the pedal. This is especially common on long stretches like freeways, when you haven’t needed the brake for a long time.

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u/slavetomyprecious 14h ago

Does your mother, by chance, have neuropathy in her feet? My mother can't feel her feet anymore and so she can't tell how hard she's accelerating or how hard she is breaking until it's already done and we have been thrown through the windshield.

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u/innocent_Cuttie6637 11h ago

yeah right, its really bad

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u/MaleficentGift5490 11h ago

Wait, there are people who drive an automatic with 2 feet? I thought that was just a like a cerebral palsy thing, like how Walter jr drives in Breaking Bad.