Last night, I was driving home from interviewing someone and my brain asked the question, "What if we tried to drive using only our left foot?" Being tired, I went with the stupid idea. It lasted less than a few seconds to decide it wasn't safe. First, no one drives only with their left foot. (Unless, of course, they only have one foot.) Second, I've driven an automatic for the last two to three years, so using my left foot felt weird. If I had driven a car with a manual transmission my left foot would have been more prepared to take over from my right foot. Think about it. It takes practice to put the exact amount of pressure on the gas pedal. Like almost everything in life, we don't automatically know how to do something. (excluding the child prodigy and maybe a genius...) Instead we have to learn how. It's the same with driving.

After making an attempt to use my left foot, another question popped into my head, "Who decided we should drive our cars with our right foot?" I posted this question on twitter and got various guesses before getting a YouTube video from TopGear on Automobile History Investigation.

It turns out that idea came from Cadillac who had the first car with the foot pedals where we still have them today. The Austin 7 car took this a step farther and was mass produced, making the good ideas of the Cadillac stick.

If you enjoy knowing how stuff works, watch the video for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwC1bqyW2c