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Article: Joys and Pitfalls of Left-Foot Braking
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 30, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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It is nearly lost to the mists of time, but I still remember my
first visit to Washington.
I was a high school senior, and I was dispatched south on the
Pennsylvania Railroad to see a few monuments, human as well as
marble. I remember both kinds only slightly. I remember much better
the fellow who drove me in a Yellow Cab from Union Station to a
fleabag hotel a few blocks away.
He braked with his left foot.
The results were hard to miss, or to forget. Whenever we neared a
red light, the cab would lurch to a stop, pitching the young Levey
forward, nearly out of the rear seat. This was long before mandatory
seat belts, kiddies, so the only way to prevent a body slam into the
back of the front ...