Better to brake with the left foot
The case against unintended acceleration causing major accidents and death in some cases has been solved. Faulty electronics have been ruled out as a factor, making a case for the driver missing the brake pedal and hitting the gas pedal instead.
I learned how to drive on a 1938 Chevy. This had a clutch pedal, which meant that you had to use your left foot on the clutch and the right on the brake to stop the car.
Today, of course, most cars do not have clutch pedals. Drivers' ed has taught us to use the right foot on the gas to go and the right foot on the brake to stop. I think this is wrong.
Many years ago when I worked at Wilber Bank, Felix Barnett, who was the head of the Trust Department would occasionally give me a lift home.
I noticed every time we came to a stop sign he would place his left foot on the brake.
I asked him why he used his left foot to brake, which I thought was wrong. He said, No. 1, your reaction time is faster since your foot is already near the brake pedal, and No. 2, the left foot now has something to do now that there is no clutch pedal to push.
This made sense to me and I have been braking with my left foot for the past 55 years.
Felix went on to become president of Wilber Bank, retiring to Florida with his wife, Marge, and passed away at 103 years of age.
Gerald L. Wood
Colliersville
Councilman should recuse himself
I would like to ask Mr. Mirabito to recuse himself from the process of formulating a moratorium in the town of Oneonta. The Corning Natural Gas Corp. lists him as director, with total compensation in 2010 of $15,245. His family also owns a gas and oil company, the Mirabito Fuel Group. I believe it is a conflict of interest for him to participate in the formulation of this moratorium on gas drilling. The Corning Natural Gas website states, and I quote, "Corning Natural Gas is geographically blessed. Our service territory sits just north of rapidly developing Marcellus Shale gas fields. New interstate pipeline and storage projects have recently been built in our area. In 2009, this business segment took off. We completed a two-mile pipeline to connect to Marcellus Shale gas in Pennsylvania. This pipeline has set the stage for greater growth ... We anticipate a multi-fold increase in volumes from this pipeline ..."
The Corning Natural Gas Corp. code of ethics states that "a conflict of interest exists when a person's private interest interferes in any way with the interest of the company."
How can Mr. Mirabito possibly contribute in an impartial way when he is a partner in a family-owned gas and oil company and a member of the Corning Natural Gas Corp.? I would like to ask Mr. Mirabito, with integrity, to recuse himself from this process.
Leon Beach
Oneonta
