TRADITIONAL PEDALS ON A MANUAL VEHICLE.

How the Foot Controls work.

In the rawest terminology, this is what each pedal does.

The Accelerator (can be referred to as Power/Gas).

Should be used progressively, the more it is pressed the more fuel is supplied to the engine, giving additional power.
Modern day accelerator pedals tend to react with very little pressure being applied as the pedal is controlled by an electronic module, whereas on older vehicles with carburettors there was a physical cable running from the pedal to the carburettor which when pressed would open and close a flap allowing more or less fuel to enter the engine.
When a gear is selected, and the clutch is in the released position, the vehicle will increase its speed the more the Accelerator is pressed downwards towards the floor. 
When the pedal is lifted the car will slow down gradually assuming no other pedals are used.
Depending on the gear that is currently selected the car will either continue moving at a very slow speed, or will stall due to the gear selected being too high for the speed the vehicle is doing.
(Very much like a bicycle, when you pedal a bike it moves, when you stop pedaling the bike will eventually come to a stop).
The only difference between the bike and a geared vehicle, is that the bike can freewheel which stops the bike from stalling, it would literally roll to a stop. The geared vehicle however, if not an automatic gearbox, will stall without the use of the clutch pedal before the car coming to a complete stop.



The Brake Pedal.

The Brake pedal slows down the vehicle when applying pressure to the pedal, which in turn applies pressure to the brake pads located at all four wheels, the harder you press the brake pedal the quicker the car will stop. The brake system controlled by the foot pedal is a hydraulic system, whereas the handbrake is controlled by a cable similar to that of a bicycle. 
The brake pedal is also used to activate the brake lights.



The Clutch Pedal.

The Clutch is a mechanism which allows the rotation of the engine to be engaged or disengaged with the gearbox.
You  will be taught to understand what pedal to use and when to use it, and by your own experience you will get to know very quickly how each pedal works and how much pressure you will need to gain the best benefit from them.




As with anything new, it takes time to master it.

Using the vehicles pedals is no different and with time you will find they are very easy to use and understand how each one interacts with the vehicle.

For a Manual geared vehicles you operate the Accelerator pedal and Brake pedal with your right foot, pivoting between the two pedals.
In real terms you will either be accelerating or braking so you only will be using one of these pedals at a time.
The Clutch pedal is operated purely with the left foot only.
This will avoid you not having a foot to introduce the clutch pedal when coming to a stop.

Along with steering, the use of the pedals are the most fundamental parts of driving a vehicle, if you cannot use these correctly then everything else to do with driving is going to be much harder.
The steering and the 3 pedals literally control everything that happens to the car to give you complete and utter control of it, don't skimp on learning how to use each and every one of them to perfection to allow you maximum control of the car. Understand what they do, what effect they have on the car and you'll never have a problem controlling your car in any given situation.

If you are taking lessons and are not fully comfortable with everything you are doing with them, or do not fully understand what effects they are having on the vehicle, then talk with your instructor and express your misunderstanding so that they can clarify, don't ever feel like you cannot ask to go over something again, even if it's the day of your driving test.
We know you should know everything by then, but some people hide their understanding or misunderstanding of things very well, and we would much rather you ask us (even at the last second) than have you pass your driving test not feeling 100% happy that you are now prepared to go it alone. 


The Brake pedal and accelerator are relatively simple for people to understand, however, the clutch until fully understood can cause lots of confusion.
We talk about using the clutch in more depth in the next section.