NY wrote
Martin Brown wrote

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?

They dont normally get involved unless someone
is injured or you get some spectacular result like
driving right out the side of a multi story carpark etc.

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.

I do it quite a bit now, mostly when parking. I didnt used
to when I used work cars, mine were always manual and
still are tho that may well change if I can find a car with
a decent fully automatic cruise control.

Not clear what that changed. I certainly used to use work
automatics much more than I drive automatics now.

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.

Dont remember ever having had that problem.

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.

I dont.

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 -

I dont.

something I would regard as a hanging offence (!) because it dazzles the
driver(s) behind at night.

I've never been dazzled in that situation myself.

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.

I dont get that effect either. My own car feels very natural when I
drive it again and I usually do drive my car to where the borrowed
automatic is and then get back into my own car immediately after
returning the automatic. Now I mostly drive other people's automatic
when I am driving them to an adjacent major town for a medical
appointment and so use their car for that trip.

You'd think it would be the other way round.

Yeah, thats the result I get.

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...