Brake Dancing!
A Japanese inventor, Masuyuki Naruse, has come up with a way to accelerate and brake using just one foot. But his way does not involve switching the one foot from brake pedal to accelerator pedal. His new way involves retrofitting a car with a new device that makes the driver use the side of the right foot to accelerate (by pushing it to the right) and the regular pushing down motion of the same foot on the brake pedal to decelerate. The reason Naruse invented this was to stop people from accidentally slamming on the accelerator in "panic mode", where they were intending to slam on the brakes.
One main problem I see with this: simple ergonomics. I could see maybe getting used to this for driving around town and for small trips, maybe. But most people have some long drives they have to do for vacations, business, etc. And I could see this constant awkward side-to-side motion straining your driving foot and calf muscle, maybe even putting your hip out of alignment.
Like most drivers, there are times you need to speed up quickly to move out of the way of oncoming traffic while attempting to cross busy streets. Flooring it this way, technically by quickly swinging your foot to the right, seems like it would be fairly imprecise and apt to maybe cause new problems (punch it too much or too little). Have they done any studies to see about the new device's effectiveness in use and to see how people like using it?
Will this new device stop old ladies (sorry about the hasty generalization, Grandma!) from smashing their '86 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme into the main lobby of the local 7-Eleven? I think those type of accidents will continue to happen even if the invented device were in use due to drivers' inattentiveness, clumsiness or slowed reaction times due to age, alcohol and/or drugs (prescription or illegal).
The motion of lifting off for less and pressing down for more for both the accelerator and brake pedals is a tried and true motion that has been utilized in all types of motor vehicles since their inception many moons ago. Will this new invention lead the way to having the majority of all automobiles on the road to be retrofitted?
Naruse hopes so, but probably not in the near to distant future...
One main problem I see with this: simple ergonomics. I could see maybe getting used to this for driving around town and for small trips, maybe. But most people have some long drives they have to do for vacations, business, etc. And I could see this constant awkward side-to-side motion straining your driving foot and calf muscle, maybe even putting your hip out of alignment.
Like most drivers, there are times you need to speed up quickly to move out of the way of oncoming traffic while attempting to cross busy streets. Flooring it this way, technically by quickly swinging your foot to the right, seems like it would be fairly imprecise and apt to maybe cause new problems (punch it too much or too little). Have they done any studies to see about the new device's effectiveness in use and to see how people like using it?
Will this new device stop old ladies (sorry about the hasty generalization, Grandma!) from smashing their '86 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme into the main lobby of the local 7-Eleven? I think those type of accidents will continue to happen even if the invented device were in use due to drivers' inattentiveness, clumsiness or slowed reaction times due to age, alcohol and/or drugs (prescription or illegal).
The motion of lifting off for less and pressing down for more for both the accelerator and brake pedals is a tried and true motion that has been utilized in all types of motor vehicles since their inception many moons ago. Will this new invention lead the way to having the majority of all automobiles on the road to be retrofitted?
Naruse hopes so, but probably not in the near to distant future...
