As I went through my usual ritual of turning off (or disabling, to the extent permitted) the “driver assistance technologies” embedded in the 2025 Mazda CX50 I’ve been test driving this week (review here, if interested) I came across a new one.
Pedal Misuse Alert.
I wondered what that could be. How does one “misuse” the pedals? By pushing down too hard, perhaps? As it turned out, “misuse” is two-footed driving, which some people like to do. Left foot on the brake pedal, the right on the accelerator. That’s the latest don’t-do-that or else you’ll be pestered about doing ir, with more to come – inevitably. Because – to paraphrase the rabid Union “red legs” officer in The Outlaw Josey Wales – “safety ain’t got no end.”
The automakers are now so obsessed with “safety” it has become a kind of prime directive, the most important thing, in other words. This is pathological because it is obsessive and for that reason has also become silly in addition to being annoying. There is an underlying presumption that people are dumber than a box of rocks and have to be scolded and cajoled at every turn to do (or not do) things a certain way. This makes driving a bew car kind of like that scene in the Blues Brothers, when Elwood and Jake get berated by the Penguin for using bad words.
The “Penguins” who run the car companies today think (or pretend to think) that the only thing that matters when driving is . . . safety. Not enjoying the drive, certainly.
“Safety” is, of course, defined as whatever some government-corporate geek thinks is “safe” (or not). This is usually subjective; i.e., someone else’s opinion. Their assessment of the balance between cost and benefit, which naturally takes precedence over your own. 
They say, for example, that is not “safe” to drive a car if you are not wearing a seatbelt but this is a hypothetical based on a number of mights. A seatbelt might indeed prevent or lessen injury if there is a crash. But if there is no crash, the seatbelt is an irrelevance, like a life jacket on a boat that’s afloat. That there is risk is not the same as that risk becoming a fact. The distinction matters. Or ought to. Free adults ought to be free to weigh risks and decide for themselves whether to assume them. More finely, they ought to be free to do so because if they are not then it means some geek invested with authority is their massa/parent, however you’d like to style it.
The nature of the relationship is the same.
Of course, we are not free adults because we are not free to weigh for ourselves whether a risk is worth taking. Whether “x” is “safe.”
My state – Virginia – just upped the “safety” ante, again. It is now illegal for passengers to decide for themselves whether to “buckle up.” This is noteworthy because it dispenses entirely with the fatuous assertion used previously to justify forcing the driver to “buckle up,” that being if he did not then he might not be able to control the vehicle in the event of a crash. Since passengers don’t drive, their wearing or not of seatbelts has no relevance insofar as controlling the car, though some hysterics will make the claim that an unbuckled passenger might be hurled forward in a crash and so interfere with the driver’s ability to control the car. This is as much a stretch as it is neurotic. A continent person might crap in his pants, too. According to that logic – which is essentially the same logic as that used by Safety Cultists – everyone also ought to wear Depends, because you never know.
So now the state – my state, at any rate – has another excuse to parent (and mulct) drivers and passengers. Also, the “technology” to pester them both is already in every new car because the federal safety geeks have mandated it. In addition to the existing annoyance of the seatbelt nanny (it isn’t a “reminder,” because reminders don’t continue to harass you after you have been reminded) that berates you with obnoxious buzzers until you give in an “buckle up,” there are now lights and chimes if the passengers behind you fail to do so.
“Check the rear seats” says a little light that comes on now in the instrument cluster. It’s their to make sure you don’t leave Baby on Board in the 90 degree heat. That reference is relevant because that’s when all of this really began to metastasize; i.e., back in the mid-1980s. I know because I was there. Anyone else who was knows, too. That was when – all of a sudden – these yellow Baby on Board placards began to be seen even more frequently than the old Ass, Gas or Grass: No One Rides For Free bumper stickers of the ’70s. Something happened in the American Mind in between the two. Just like that, Safety First!! was the new In Thing.
Few bothered to ask How a Baby on Board placard enhanced “safety.” Rather, it was the first case I am aware of in this country of the very public virtue signaling that is now ubiquitous rather than aberrant, as it once was.
And now – on top of that – Pedal Misuse Alert.
I’m reminded of a great Sam Kineson stand-up comedy bit about how it never ends. Even after death. Because there’s no end to “safety.”
. . .
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At least in New Hampshire the law is anyone under 18 needs to buckle up. As an adult they let you choose, as it should be. Every time I venture into NH the belt comes off. That’s if I’m actually wearing it.
It’s only misuse if you are pressing both at the same time, even a little bit. Presuming nothing to do with rev-matching downshifts. The car is right. Get better at left foot braking.
The late, GREAT, Sam Kinison!
AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!
Saaaaaayyyyyyitttt! Saaaaaayyyyyitttt!
I drive 2 footed. Because its safer. I would go crazy in that car.
Thats why I prefer 90s tuned japanese cars.
Oregon lost the right for passengers to be seatbelt free in 1990 when 54% of the populace voted the rights away from the other 46%. I’m surprised Virginia held out this long.
Key phrase: “when 54% of the populace voted the rights away from the other 46%.”
…There it is.
The real irony of all of this “safety” crap they put on cars is that all of that dinging and buzzing is in itself a distraction. I had a client who had a 2019 Subaru Forrester and every time I drove that thing I felt like I was playing an involuntary game of “Operation”! If you don’t remember, that was a kid’s game from the 1970’s that was a test of skill in keeping one’s hands steady. Every time I’d get within a foot or less from the center line (or white lines) the damned thing would beep at me. If I steered around a dead animal in the road it would beep. If I went onto an exit ramp with those dotted white lines it would beep…. And every that happened I instinctively took my eyes off the road to check the dash board to see what it was. In my older vehicles the only beeping comes from things that really need attention, like the gas light or low tire pressure (or, of course, if someone doesn’t use the seatbelt). Finally one day I found the switches to turn all that crap off (except the lane departure, for some reason I couldn’t kill that one, even though there was a switch for it). Problem was, each and every time I had to remember to shut it all down when I started the car.
It’s no wonder accident rates have remained high – you have the touch screens and all the buzzers and alarms to distract drivers. Most states outlaw hand held phone use, but do nothing about the built in distractions in cars.
My husband doesn’t seem to believe me about all this obnoxious crap on newer cars. Well, in a couple of weeks we will be renting a car to take a long trip so as to avoid putting 2500+ miles on our car. I’m thinking he might be in for a rude awakening! I’m not looking forwards to the drive, especially when it’s my turn to take the wheel…
So I’m curious, are they demanding legal ID to ticket passengers? Or how do they plan to force people to obey this one? Or ar they ticketing the driver for the passengers?
Arrogant fu$#s.
RE: “so obsessed with “safety” it has become a kind of prime directive, the most important thing,”
Odd, the contrast$ with this:
‘Trump’s DOJ Says EPA Will Appeal Landmark Fluoride Ruling’
“… Even the lower recommended dosage has demonstrated a risk to children’s health in numerous studies, and according to the federal ruling that the EPA plans to challenge.
EPA continues to treat fluoride as a ‘protected pollutant’”…
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/trump-doj-epa-will-appeal-landmark-fluoride-ruling/
Petal Misuse Alert? WTF? Someone actually pitched this to top brass, and they then spent real money adding this point to dashboard and the general electrical module program? In major construction projects with automated controls, a control point (temp sensor, or output control) is worth $2,000.00 each minimum (wiring, termination, test and programming). So, this was a good idea?
I have a 69 Datsun Roadster with a manual 5-speed. I brake with the ball of my foot and *plip* the throttle with the outer side of my same foot with my foot still on the brake on downshifts. Petal Misuse?
I have a buddy with a Hellcat he drag races. He drives dual foot all the time with an auto trans. Petal Misuse?
What next, if you fart Methane Misuse Alert.
Hi Jim.
I stocked up on forever stamps years ago but the only thing I generally use the postal service for now is birthday and Christmas cards. Sadly you can’t put cash or gift cards in the mail as it will get stolen and quite possibly by employee’s of the postal service.
Affordable means little when they steal your niece’s birthday present.
Should have been below Jim’s comment at the bottom.
Send a check!
So now I know why all of the clovers hallucinate brake, that is, brake for no apparent reason driving down the interstate with nothing in front of them for a mile or more. Hovering your left foot over the brake pedal keeps your brake lights flashing on and off. It is quite irritating.
Another thing they do is rolling braking. They do their initial slow half a block early, bleed speed the next 10 car lengths and walk their car up slowly. It’s irritating no matter and driving a stick it’s infuriating. When I sense I’m behind a clover like this I’ll do a proper stop, wait for them to go through their motions, drive up and stop again.
Indeed, Todd!
Just wait: I have a new Daily Clover coming later today…
Had one yesterday, they had done this so much the left brake light was burned out.
On a 35MPH level straight section, no businesses so not like they were hunting for a driveway/business parking area. But ohh my, gotta cover that brake pedal!
The truly scary issue is today Virginians lose this right,and tomorrow, it’ll be the other 49 states & territories…
Just watch, it’ll happen ..
My mom and dad both drove with both feet, probably becasue they drove a stick at one time. Where are the hackers to turn this bullshit off?
Ha, yeah, I’m so used to driving trucks with clutch pedal travel measured in feet that my left leg muscle memory will put me through the windscreen when I try to brake. But I don’t practice using left foot braking that much either.
People are spirited drivers will do two feet (clutch or not) well but in the normal world it’s seems like mostly old ladies who I see doing this in their Buicks.
Hi Swamprat.
Driving a 3/4 ton pickup with a three speed on steep hills, I’m pretty sure I managed to use all three pedals at one time at least once. 🙂
Did the same thing in a Renault Alliance on a sloped parking lot exit. The Alliance had about zero low end torque, and a kid in a jacked up 4×4 pulled up right behind me. Had to hold the brake, feather the clutch, and feather the throttle to get going.
Amen to the hackers comment. If there was a way to PERMANENTLY turn off the awful start/stop, automatic radar brakes, radar cruise, driver assistance crap, and cylinder deactivation, I might reconsider getting a new CX-5. But probably now, darn things are way too expensive now.
My 82 year old father drives with both feet too. Good luck trying to change that. Good thing he will never drive a 25 Mazda CX-50.
‘on top of that – Pedal Misuse Alert.’ — eric
Number one offender here. In the rare instances when I drive slushboxes, of course I keep my left foot hovering over the brake pedal and right foot on the gas, braking exclusively with the left foot. After all, with only two pedals, why bother to move your feet? Pivoting that right foot can ruin your hip … ankle too! Don’t do it!
But this minor pedalian offense pales in comparison with my urgent Factory Misuse Alert for Nissan:
‘Nissan Motor will cease vehicle production at its flagship Oppama plant in Kanagawa by March 2028, a move CEO Ivan Espinosa called “a tough but necessary decision” and one of “significant pain.”
‘Nikkei reports that Oppama’s 2,400 employees will remain employed until the closure. Nissan pledged to communicate employment plans clearly and work with unions once decisions are finalized.
‘The closure is part of Nissan’s broader Re:Nissan restructuring plan, announced in May, which includes reducing global assembly plants from 17 to 10 and cutting 20,000 jobs by March 2028. The company plans to lower non-China production capacity from 3.5 million to 2.5 million vehicles annually.’
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/tough-necessary-nissan-shutter-flagship-japanese-plant-march-2028
Nissan is bleeding to death … and they plan to close a redundant plant 2.7 years from now?? WTF?
Nissan is going to die because it is not run by serious people. They are planning for a hangnail excision when their face is turning purple from the urgent need for open heart surgery. BACA! [‘crazy’ in Japanese]
It’s hard for a business to recover when it’s managed by retarded clowns on an anti-psychotic diet of benzos and mizuwari. Kanpai, bitchez!
Another dying business goes down in a thick brown cloud of b.s.:
(Gray News) – It’s going to cost more to mail something through the United States Postal Service. The Federal Government raised the price of stamps again.
The price of first-class Forever stamps increased by 7.4% Sunday, rising from 73 cents to 78 cents.
The USPS said its prices are the “most affordable in the world.”
HA HA HA HA. This is America, where you can just make up absurd bullshit, intone it with a straight face … and no one is the wiser.
p.s. Victory in Ukraine! /sarc
And the sad part is that the USPS is the best run government agency we have. They actually provide pretty reliable service.
Actually, that’s true. I checked that the cost of a first class stamp in France is 1.39 euros. The cost of a first class US stamp is over 10 times that it was in 1970. In 1970, it was 6 cents. It rose to 8 cents in 71 and then to 10 in 1974.
Hi Jim.
I stocked up on forever stamps years ago but the only thing I generally use the postal service for now is birthday and Christmas cards. Sadly you can’t put cash or gift cards in the mail as it will get stolen and quite possibly by employee’s of the postal service.
Affordable means little when they steal your niece’s birthday present.
UPS has delivered my parcels to the neighbor’s house even though the correct address was on the box and both houses have clearly visible house numbers, I get my parcel when he notices it.
The kids live in town. Amazon delivery drivers consistently leave their stuff IN THE ALLEY behind the house, at their unmarked not numbered garage door.
Considering the dollar’s devaluation of 99% from 1913 to present, a first class one cent stamp (and didn’t they used to do half cent stamps?) should be at least a dollar now.