Can I Legally Drive With Both Feet?

While it is typically recommended, driving with only one foot is not a legal requirement, so you can legally drive with both feet. Even though it is not illegal to drive with both feet, it may be unsafe if you are inexperienced. It can also lead to discomfort while driving, gradual damage to your vehicle’s brake components and the worsening of your car’s fuel economy.

Continue reading for more information about the legality and practical ramifications of driving with two feet.

On This Page

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  Why Do People Drive With Both Feet?

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  What Are the Pros and Cons of Driving With Both Feet?

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  Legal Considerations for Driving With Both Feet

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  Safety and Best Practices When Driving With Both Feet

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  FAQs

Why Do People Drive With Both Feet?

People may opt to drive with both feet due to their experience, the type of car they drive or the context in which they find themselves driving. In some cases, drivers may find it confusing to switch their right foot from one pedal to the other when they first learn how to drive, so they instead choose to use one foot per pedal.

It’s also worth noting that driving with both feet is necessary if you have a car with a manual transmission. While you must still use your right foot to control both the brakes and the accelerator in a manual transmission car, you will need to use your left foot to press the clutch pedal as you move the gear stick anytime you want to shift gears.

Finally, left-foot braking is commonly used by racecar drivers to maximize their speed on the racetrack, since they can accelerate more quickly after braking for a turn if they press their right foot on the gas immediately after lifting their left foot from the brake rather than moving their right foot from the brake to the gas.^[1]

Is It Illegal To Drive With Both Feet?

There are no federal or state laws explicitly prohibiting drivers from using both feet while driving any kind of vehicle in the United States. That said, some state governments may more or less officially recommend that you only use one foot while driving a car with an automatic transmission.

For example, the standard drivers’ education curriculum published by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction teaches student drivers to brake with their right foot and move that foot from the brake to the gas pedal whenever they want to accelerate, but it makes no mention of drivers using their left foot.^[2]

What Are the Pros and Cons of Driving With Both Feet?

Driving with both feet can potentially help reduce certain types of car accidents, but it may be uncomfortable for many drivers and detrimental to many vehicles. An estimated 16,000 crashes occurred each year from 2004 to 2008 due to drivers pressing the wrong pedal.^[3] Crashes like these could theoretically be avoided if drivers train themselves to only press each pedal with its corresponding foot.

Although some drivers may be concerned about the prospect of panicking and slamming on both pedals at the same time in a high-pressure moment while driving with two feet, it’s worth noting that this may not be an issue in all vehicles.

Many cars come with brake override systems, meaning the brakes will override the accelerator and bring the car to a stop if both pedals are pressed at the same time.^[4]

Nevertheless, there are still some major downsides to driving with both feet. For example, it may be uncomfortable to keep your left leg near the brakes at all times, since the gas and brake pedals are often positioned close together in a way that is comfortable for right-foot-only drivers. In addition, if you get tired of hovering your left foot over the brake and decide to rest it on the pedal, you could create resistance that causes your brake pads to wear out more rapidly and increases fuel consumption unnecessarily.^[5]

Legal Considerations for Driving With Both Feet

You could face legal consequences or a significant financial setback if the fact that you drive with both feet contributes to a collision. For example, if you decide to try out driving with two feet for the first time on a public road and get into a car accident due to your unfamiliarity with the driving style, you could potentially be charged with reckless driving.

Additionally, you should keep in mind that Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia follow the contributory negligence rule, which means that you can’t recover damages from the predominantly at-fault driver after a car accident if you are considered to be partially at fault.^[6]

As a result, if another driver crashes into you but you fail to brake quickly enough because you react more slowly with your left foot than your right foot, then a judge could rule that your driving style contributed to the accident, and you could have to cover your own medical and repair expenses.

Safety and Best Practices When Driving With Both Feet

In general, using both feet is not recommended for everyday driving in an automatic vehicle. If you do plan to drive with both feet, it’s crucial to make sure you get plenty of practice in a low-risk environment — such as an empty parking lot or a rural backroad during the daytime — so you can minimize the risk of making a mistake that could lead to a collision with another driver.