Seatbelt saved my life!

[DEValken]

Motorcyclists do the same thing, covering the brakes/clutch. But it's obviously a lot less physically straining to leave a finger in the air versus keeping your left foot in that awkward position.



Why?

Because of the straining left foot thing you referenced. The foot will start dropping, and your brake lights will start coming on.

Hard to know when you're really stopping.

 

[RINC]

I worked as an EMT for around 5 years. There was one guy (luckily not my permanent partner) that drove that way and was damn proud of it. Everyone that rode in the back with a patient absolutely hated him. I've never been so car sick in my life. Very jolting and just awful.

Maybe there's a reason to do that in a big rig, but don't do that in a regular car (or Jeep).

Glad the OP is ok. Sad about your Jeep though.

To expand on my comment, it's while in heavy city traffic. With the jake brakes off, I'll take my right foot off the foot feed and have it hovering over the brake pedal. I'll slow down at bit not being on the foot feed. This is to help keep my following distance and I am aware to expect the unexpected that you 4 wheelers will inevitably do like not use your turn signal and cut me off. I never use my left foot on the brake pedal. My right foot is going back and forth as traffic allows.

 

[txbemis69]

No pictures to show but the jeep is totaled!… just got home from the hospital, nothing serious, some road rash on my arm and sore… could’ve been a hell of a lot worse!… A little old man didn’t stop at a stop sign and clipped me on the passenger quarter, rolled the jeep over on the drivers side with me in it and slid me about 75 feet down the road… tore the passenger rear tire and the axel shaft out of the axle…. Rear axle and Frame are warped… Drivers side is tore up from the slide…. seatbelt and rollbars saved my life! My wife is balling like we lost a member of the family… Insurance will never pay me back what I’ve got in that vehicle… oh well

Dash cam footage of the accident…

Viewer discretion is advised
Warning: Explicit Language…

damn it boy! glad you’re ok.

 

[ronson]

Wow, glad you are ok!! Seat belts do save lives, I cannot believe there are idiots out there that refuse or are simply too lazy to wear them. Not wearing one killed a friend while he was offroading, it rolled over him after he fell out at the beginning of the roll. RIP TJRon.

Kind of ironic that this is a jade 97 also, right Jerry?
I found my dad's Jeep and bought it yesterday. Picking it up next week.

 

[B1Toad]

So I wonder how safe we are in a major crash with our roll cage, seat belts and air bags in comparison to many of the new vehicles out there.

 

[TheBoogieman]

So I wonder how safe we are in a major crash with our roll cage, seat belts and air bags in comparison to many of the new vehicles out there.

I guess you missed my pics and MINOR injuries comment. Works for me. Try that in convertible Mazda Miata or BMW and see if you still have your head attached when you stop rolling. My bet is on NO.

 

[B1Toad]

I guess you missed my pics and MINOR injuries comment. Works for me. Try that in convertible Mazda Miata (or any other car) and see if you still have a head when you stop rolling.

View attachment 433089

No, I didn't, I read the whole thread because this is something I have thought about. Yes I'm sure we're safer than someone in a tiny convertible but I wonder about the comparison between a similar vehicle, like a small to mid size SUV. Or even in a newer Jeep, or a Grand Cherokee. A Grand Cherokee has lots more air bags and safety gizmos than us but we have the roll cage, just curious how much that roll cage adds. From the examples so far it seems that it adds quite a bit. I know some cars have hidden roll cage like structures but probably not as substantial as pipe/tubing.

edit: found this: https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/jeep/wrangler-2-door-suv/2000

 

[TheBoogieman]

No, I didn't, I read the whole thread because this is something I have thought about. Yes I'm sure we're safer than someone in a tiny convertible but I wonder about the comparison between a similar vehicle, like a small to mid size SUV. Or even in a newer Jeep, or a Grand Cherokee. A Grand Cherokee has lots more air bags and safety gizmos than us but we have the roll cage, just curious how much that roll cage adds. From the examples so far it seems that it adds quite a bit. I know some cars have hidden roll cage like structures but probably not as substantial as pipe/tubing.

Apples to oranges, unless they're convertibles too. XJs are safe, when hit from behind.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Kind of ironic that this is a jade 97 also, right Jerry?
I found my dad's Jeep and bought it yesterday. Picking it up next week.

Wait, are you TJRon's son?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

So I wonder how safe we are in a major crash with our roll cage, seat belts and air bags in comparison to many of the new vehicles out there.

Insurance actuarial tables I saw online years ago (no longer online) that covered the TJ said the TJ was safer than the average car, had fewer fatalities on average, and occupants were less likely to be seriously injured in a major accident than in a standard car. Consider that most cars are frameless unibody designs and far lighter than the TJ with its safer heavy full steel frame and heavy steel body as the major reasons for it being safer than the average car.

 

[DEValken]

Wait, are you TJRon's son?

Yep

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/i-love-this-picture-thought-i’d-share-it.48342/#post-1345926

 

[RINC]

This thread got me thinking of NHRA rules.

 

[Succentor]

My 'other car' is a 2003 BMW 3 series convertible and I'd be pretty confident rolling it. It has automatic roll bars which extend once it passes something like 45 degrees of roll. And a lot more airbags than the 2001 TJ.

 

[joniki]

43 years as a medic. Retired three years ago and I only ever cut one dead body with an intact seat belt.

 

[Thunderhead]

Sidebar: My mother was a professional driving instructor for several years in New Jersey back in the 60's - she worked for the Taggart School Of Driving, and was even voted "Instructor Of The Year" one year. She taught me a VERY valuable lesson when she taught me to drive; to wit: Put your left foot VERY lightly on the brake pedal (and I MEAN "lightly"; not hard enough to engage the brakes, but JUST enough to significantly cut down on reaction time, which doing so DOES) at all times - Automatic AND Manual transmission vehicles. I can't EVEN begin to count the # of times that I've avoided an accident using this method (over 1 million miles driven in 50+ years with ZERO accidents). Funny: When I went for my Driving Test in New Jersey, a NJ State Trooper is who administers the test; not sure if it's still that way. He saw my left foot hovering over the brake pedal and scolded me; when I told him that my Mom taught me to do so, he replied: "If you want to pass THIS test on THIS day, you'll brake with your right foot, young man!" I switched, passed the test, then told him that I was going back to left foot braking, for which I received a curt scowl, LOL...

So in a manual your left foot is on the brake and your right foot is on the skinny pedal. Do you river dance your right foot back to the clutch to keep it from stalling out and losing control ?

Driving behind you must be horrible

 

[TheGanzman]

So in a manual your left foot is on the brake and your right foot is on the skinny pedal. Do you river dance your right foot back to the clutch to keep it from stalling out and losing control ?

Driving behind you must be horrible

I don't "ride the brake" - in fact, I don't even touch the brake pedal enough to activate the brake lights. You, or anyone else behind me, would have NO idea that my left foot is on the brake pedal - unless you're tailgating me, in which case I activate the brake pedal enough to turn on the brake lights while at the same time accelerating/maintaining my speed...

 

[B1Toad]

I remember a study a while back that said left foot braking, once mastered, was optimal. I believe that, with an automatic but have a hard time with a clutch.

 

[suicideking]

I remember a study a while back the said left foot braking, once mastered, was optimal. I believe that, with an automatic but have a hard time with a clutch.

That study was probably completed by a left foot braking enthusiast before his passenger beat the shit out of him and broke his left foot to prevent it from happening in the future...

 

[PeteN95]

Which foot you use to brake has nothing to do with how well you drive, or how smoothly. Many of the best road racing drivers in the world use left foot braking.

 

[Zorba]

Sidebar: My mother was a professional driving instructor for several years in New Jersey back in the 60's - she worked for the Taggart School Of Driving, and was even voted "Instructor Of The Year" one year. She taught me a VERY valuable lesson when she taught me to drive; to wit: Put your left foot VERY lightly on the brake pedal (and I MEAN "lightly"; not hard enough to engage the brakes, but JUST enough to significantly cut down on reaction time, which doing so DOES) at all times - Automatic AND Manual transmission vehicles. I can't EVEN begin to count the # of times that I've avoided an accident using this method (over 1 million miles driven in 50+ years with ZERO accidents). Funny: When I went for my Driving Test in New Jersey, a NJ State Trooper is who administers the test; not sure if it's still that way. He saw my left foot hovering over the brake pedal and scolded me; when I told him that my Mom taught me to do so, he replied: "If you want to pass THIS test on THIS day, you'll brake with your right foot, young man!" I switched, passed the test, then told him that I was going back to left foot braking, for which I received a curt scowl, LOL...

Interestingly, my wife uses her left foot to brake on automatic vehicles.