Welcome to the forum, Blkzr1. Please quote someone before you go off on them like that. I thought you were blaming that accident on left-foot-brakers, and was writing a reply until I decided it was too messed up and reviewed the thread.

Most people who draft effectively don't get anywhere near that close. It's too close for a good draft, probably due to turbulence and such; regardless, it's rude and (most importantly) dangerous.

A lucky coincidence is that the most effective drafting distance, as observed and measured by a few members of this forum, is around 3 seconds -- a safe distance.

Left foot braking has saved me from death or serious injury on at least half a dozen occasions, including a potential t bone where the other person ran a red light at 45 MPH.

regards
gary

Do this in Virginia and you will become a habitual offender in about 18 months=no license for 10 years.

regards
gary

soo the general consensus is that left foot braking be left to those who know how to use it properly. Good. To those who don't know how to use it effectively and are here complaining: shut up. You don't practice it, you don't know how to use it. To those who "practice" it but just suck at driving: well, there's little hope for you changing your driving habits, so keep up the crappy job.

Sure are some strong opinions here.


Here is a post on the subject, including two events involving emergency braking, that might be of interest:

10-07-2008, 11:42 PM
shatto
2006 Toyota Tundra
Last Online: Today 12:08 PM
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Concord, San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 61
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Scary Good Brakes - Part II

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I used to have so many people cutting in front of me to get to the upcoming off-ramp that I got in the habit of looking in the rear view mirror, and, sure enough lots of room behind me! Got to be my private inside joke with my wife....about the sign on the back that said; "Cut Me Off!"

My Tundra is different, in a scary way.

Monday, I was going from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge onto Highway 24, to Walnut Creek when I was cut off.
I was carrying around 500 pounds, was in the left of two off-ramp lanes in 45 MPH traffic when.........the guy in the Accord in the right lane decided he was on the wrong highway and turned left......in front of the guy in front of me (did you see the Talladega stock car race? 195 MPH and somebody slips in-between with inches to spare?) I hit the brakes, thinking "Pretty good brakes" then, next I knew I was in the right lane, mashing the throttle into the front suspension and looking into the right mirror, I hope to god for the second time not the first, and seeing the Rodeo superimposed on the grill of the Peterbilt!
I noticed , as the Tundra accelerated smartly away, the Accord driving over the median and onto the 580 Freeway; then around a mile away the Rodeo pulled alongside... I turned to apologise and there, with the cigarette jutting like FDR, was a grinning Oriental giving me a "thumbs up!"

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Then there was Tuesday;

I had a pallet with 850 lbs of the liquid used for home dialysis, tucked right up against the front of the bed and was driving in evening traffic on Capitol Expressway, in San Jose when..........say it with me, the guy in the right lane turned left in front of me.
I was thinking to myself; "darn good brakes! I've still got lots left."
After I delivered the load I had to reset the shell because the top of the load had shifted and pushed it into the cab.

I've got to remove that darn sign!

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Shatto,

Your stories don't seem to mention which foot you use for braking. However, you should expect to easily get as much braking power as your tires can handle, since your truck's braking system was designed to provide decent performance for braking twice the weight that it had to brake under those conditions. You probably have at least a 2,000 pound dead tow rating, and a 10,000 pound rating for trailers with electric or surge brakes (which are not expected to provide 100% of the trailer's braking).

Thank you for asking.
A short story to cover 'Heel/Toe' and 'Left Foot Braking' might set my bona-fides.

But first;
*I see lots of people who rest their foot on the brake pedal.
*There are people not very good using the brakes, no matter which foot they use.
*Some vehicles have such minimal brakes, they can't handle heavy duty use.
*The dumbest use of brakes is the Prius driver I saw on the freeway who applied the brakes every 15 seconds to charge the battery.

I spent fifteen years living in Ethiopia, where I helped my father build and run Shatto Safaris. I drove; flat head and F-head Jeeps, 88, 109 and Forward Control Land Rovers, Unimogs, An M-37 and M-38, Land Cruisers and a 1934 Fiat Millecento. Most driving was on gravel roads degrading to cross country, sometimes through Elephant Grass that quickly removed all the paint and turned the entire undercarriage silver. Once, we were caught in a sea of mud after a storm that clogged the wheel wells and required the Jeep and Land Rover to pull...drag one trailer and that meant driving for hours at a stretch in 2nd gear, low-range at maximum throttle. Driving fully loaded vehicles in those conditions requires learning to 'heel-toe' as a matter of survival.

In the early 60's I visited my grandmother in San Francisco.

You 'oldsters' remember the ad's for Pontiac, I think it was, that showed a woman's foot in high heels a wall-to-wall brake pedal and, between, an egg?

I was driving my gram in her big new Chrysler, and we came to a light so I slowed to a stop. And pushed in the clutch. Bam! Bounced her off the dash board!
I have left foot braked ever since, when driving an automatic.
The Tundra is new to me. The 98 Dakota (automatic) went 623,000 miles and the Sonoma (automatic) 260,000 miles.
Left foot braking is no longer an intellectual concept to me.
And I can shift a manual without using the clutch.

I'm amazed that there wasn't more focus on the outright dangerous practice of close-in drafting. This is the truly dangerous part of what's being described here. It's just not worth it to be that close to anyone no matter how much fuel it saves.:mad:

When you turn on the headlights to allow a truck to change into your lane, they'll soon figure out you know what you are doing.
If you tuck up behind a semi, he won't care for a bunch of reasons, not the least being any contact from the rear is not his fault, so I'm going to guess he doesn't even care if you know what you're doing.

People who commute get to know each other by sight. Doesn't take long for the group to figure out driving styles and who knows what they're doing.
I was once cut off by a pickup. A few seconds later a guy on a Harley pulled next to the truck, kicked the door and verbally laid into the driver. The pickup left the freeway at the next exit.
You don't want to tick-off travelling buddies.

Then......there is the law.

Go ahead draft.

Drove from Williamsbug to Richmond today on I64 West. Traffic was moderate but in groups of idiots that followed at 2 car lengths at 70+ MPH. Gaps between these groups of hundreds of yards, yet the idiots still risk their lives for nothing.

I was in the right lane going 65 and one moron passed me on the right in an acceleration lane. He was not entering the highway. I gave him a one finger salute.

When crowded the average distance between cars is probably 5 car lengths at 70 MPH. I am not exaggerating. I have watched idiots changing lanes trying to pass people on the right only to get caught there and loose a lot of relative distance. Watched one idiot do this for 40 miles to gain 200 yards distance relative to the rest of the drivers.

I drove home on old Route 60 parallel to the interstate at 55 MPH, on a deserted road. Probably only saw twenty other cars going the same direction in 45 miles.

If you don't draft on this stretch of interstate the weavers will make you draft. The danger is exponential to rational driving techniques.

Driving a VX in these situations requires extreeme defensive skills, because you are definitely the smaller marble.

I did see a lot of troopers writing tickets. It seems with the falling gas prices the idiots are returning to their old stupid habits.

The safest place for me in these circumstances is 3 stripes behind a big rig.

regards
badger