"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
I was in a crash caused by that error as a rear seat passenger. The other
driver insisted they pressed the brake as hard as they could but their
speed increased and there were no skid marks (pre ABS brakes).

Police crash investigators concluded they hit the accelerator pedal.

What is the typical police response if they suspect that the driver hit the
accelerator instead of the footbrake. Is it regarded as a venial sin ("ah,
what a silly thing to do - try not to do it again") or is it treated as
careless/dangerous driving, maybe with reactions checked in a driving test?
I get the impression that confusing the two controls is regarded as less
serious and more forgivable than driving at 35 in a 30 zone or going through
a red traffic light 2 seconds after it has changed when there's no other
traffic around (I'd regard those latter two as far less serious because they
are technical, potential faults rather than an actual collision-causing
fault).


I have declutched the brake on an automatic car more than once - usually
in an unfamiliar hire car when approaching a complicated pay station
chicane in some horrible dingy multistorey carpark.

Likewise - usually because of my foot, instinctively feeling for the
non-existent clutch, catches that stupid double-width brake pedal that all
automatic cars are fitted with for some godforsaken reason. I *never* brake
with my left foot in an automatic: a) because I never want to brake and
accelerate at the same time, so the same right foot will do for both, as in
a manual, and b) because my left foot is attuned to larger, often less
precise movements of the clutch pedal, so I wouldn't instinctively have the
fine control to apply the brake without pressing too hard (*knowing* is one
thing, reflex action in an emergency is quite another). If I have to do a
hill start in an automatic, I don't use my left foot as I am pressing the
accelerator with my right foot - I use my handbrake, as in a manual. And I
almost always (*) go into neutral and apply the handbrake at traffic lights,
as in a manual, to avoid me having to keep my foot on the brake - something
I would regard as a hanging offence (!) because it dazzles the driver(s)
behind at night.

I remember when I went go-karting, where the brake is operated with the left
foot, we were all warned at the end of our session that if we'd driven
there, we needed to pay particular attention to braking with the right foot
again as we drove home.

I often find that when I drive a strange car, I get used to the different
feel and location of its controls fairly quickly, but I then take a lot
longer to get used to my own car again that I am much more familiar with.
You'd think it would be the other way round. Trying to remember where
reverse is can be a hassle: top-left (left of first) on my Peugeot,
bottom-right (right of sixth) on my wife's Honda: and yet it's always my
Peugeot, which I drive a lot more, that I have to think about - weird.


(*) Except when I anticipate that I'll only be stopped for a few seconds, as
for a manual. I don't go into Park because that flashes the reversing lights
as you move from Drive through Reverse to Park and back, which scares the
living daylights out of the car behind...