im a leftie and i can not drive an automatic car

DH is a total.leftie, can't do anything right handed at all BUT he loves driving our automatic car & his automatic van! We never thought of getting one until we were offered one when replacing a particular car we'd loved with the latest model. There was an automatic available right away - we dithered & eventually said yes to it...Best thing ever. You do have to persevere but I'm sure you'll love it if you do. We do also keep an old manual for pottering about in but it feels really weird now. We're on the 3rd automatic car & 2nd van.

I’m a ‘leftie’ , don’t find our automatic difficult, sorry. It does take some getting used to, not having anything for your left leg/foot to do, but no problems at all.

I'm a lefty too and no problem with an automatic in fact it has helped with leg and foot pain. My mum taught me to knit right-handed and to use a knife and fork the 'proper' way round. Probably my biggest problem is trying to work out how I am going round other people in the street, I always pick the wrong side. Maybe stop comparing it with your old way of driving and try thinking of it as a completely new skill?

Mollygo said That’s a scary concept, however much of an expert you are or are or not. The whole idea of using the same foot for the brake as the accelerator is that you have to take your foot off the accelerator to use the brake.

Glad it’s not just me who went at using different feet for brake and accelerator! I can’t imagine any situation in which you’d need to press both accelerator and brake at the same time. Apart from the obvious dangers, you can do a lot of damage to some engines by accidentally pressing down on both pedals at the same time.

If you've been driving for a long time, suddenly using an automatic is disconcerting...no changing gear, no clutch etc. It does get easier, but it takes time - and you'll never want to drive a manual again.

Petunia, I don’t think it has anything to do with left or right. We bought an automatic after 50+ years on manuals. My brain is trained to a manual car and even after over a year I still find my left foot going for the clutch.

I couldn’t agree with you more Petunia. I am left handed and left footed! I’ve driven automatic cars over the years but it never felt right, and now I will only drive a manual car. I don’t drive my husband’s automatic for this reason. I love the idea of an electric car but know it’s not for me. Safety has to come first.

I have changed to an automatic car and am extremely left handed.
Persevere because I am not going back to gears ever again. It does take some gettig use to but is much easier when you do!

I'm right-handed and left-footed - does that signify anything? Though I do often use my left hand in preference to the right for many things. I do have a birth deformity of my left hand so maybe I would have left-handed otherwise?
Re the comment on tin openers, aren't both hands deployed equally in using them?

Try harder! When I moved from a manual to an automatic I found my gear lever hand and clutch foot wanted something to do but that wore off over a month or so. And handedness is also affected when driving abroad. After a while it's easy.

I'm right handed but changing gears with my left hand is OK, It took a while to get used to driving DH's automatic car when we were dating because I wanted to manually change gears ?.

Now living in France with a LH drive French car with manual transmission, once or twice I tried to change gears as normal but, um, wrong hand. ? ? I got used to changing gears with my right hand quickly though because I used to help my mum in South Africa change gears when her left elbow was too sore (rheumatoid arthritis). So she almost had an automatic car. Me!

Yes, automatics are different. You're going to make a few unexpected emergency stops when you push down a clutch pedal that has somehow turned into a brake!

But I don't really think being a lefty has much to do with it.

Mollygo

Petunia I hope you can get to grips with the automatic enough to enjoy it.
I had the same problems, particularly with my left foot, continuing to work the non-existent clutch for a long time.
Good luck.

Years ago when I was even poorer i was given an automatic car, and my dads advice was to sit on my left foot whilst driving... it worked lol

I'm left handed. I use a knife and fork the conventional way but have to swap to the left to use a spoon, otherwise I'd miss my mouth! I could never use a fork the American way for the same reason. Other than that, and for writing, I've never had much of a problem in a right handed world and I simply can't get away with left handed scissors! They are a mystery to me. My parents were very determined that I would never be forced, or even encouraged, to write with my right hand in school. They made it very clear from the start. Some parts of the world are still medieval about the use of the left hand though...

Just to answer the OP ? My late husband had an automatic for a few years. The only problem I had was, when he reverted to a manual gearbox, I kept stalling at junctions!

I'm left handed and I love my automatic car.

My friend was told to take her left shoe off. It worked for her.

I'm not left-handed my husband and I switch between his car (automatic) and mine (manual) when having to go on long trips. Now I have lent my car to the daughter who is here for three months, and we both use the automatic. It takes a few minutes to adjust but you just put your left foot on the handy little shelf and forget about it!

I don’t get this. You use your right foot for the brake and the accelerator regardless if it’s a manual or automatic. You just don’t get to use a clutch and you learn to get used to it. It is nothing to do with being left handed. It’s just about being nervous about using an automatic which I felt as a right handed person. Any way some left handlers are right footed!

I'm left handed. I drive my automatic fine .Keep trying. It does feel odd having nothing to do with that left hand at first . I just keep it on the steering wheel.
Good luck x

I was born a leftie but was made to write with my right hand at school. I can write with my left to this day but hold knives and forks in the wrong hands. I still do so many things with my left hand; very useful for opening jars, there is more torque. I had to give up my manual car for an automatic after wrecking a couple of clutches following a knee operation. It felt very weird at first but after a week I knew I would never go back to driving a manual. So don't use being left-handed as an excuse, feel the fear and do it anyway.

I'm a rightie yet use left hand side slot. Slide on ice as kid with left foot forward, undo screw caps with left pour with left kick ball with left foot did martial arts dominated left. But deffo rightie automatic cars? Cinch.just practice.

I am left-handed for writing, but ‘mixed-handed’ for other things. I have been driving automatics for decades, and love them. Surely you’re actually a safer driver if you have both hands on the wheel more?
As others have said, plant your left leg firmly on the floor.
Good luck!

I’m left handed. I have just bought a sewing machine and after using it for a while realised that they’re great for left handers. I googled and discovered that the original machines were powered by a handle that was on the right side and even after electric machines came along they continued to be made the same design. A rare advantage for lefties!

Now knitting- that’s another matter ! I couldn’t teach her and she never learnt. It is very easy to teach a Leftie to knit. You simply have them sit facing you, instead of by your side and ask them to copy what your are doing. I learnt this when the Primary School teacher had given up on trying to teach my LH DD and LH best friend. Teacher was surprised when the pair of them could suddenly knit. When I explained, she said that she had never thought of that, but she went on to use the technic successfully.