Mazda 3 Owners Manual: Foot Brake

Shift to a lower gear when going down steep hills: Driving with your foot continuously on the brake pedal or steadily applying the brakes for long distances is dangerous. This causes overheated brakes, resulting in longer stopping distances or even total brake failure.

This could cause loss of vehicle control and a serious accident. Avoid continuous application of the brakes.

Dry off brakes that have become wet by driving slowly, releasing the accelerator pedal and lightly applying the brakes several times until the brake performance returns to normal: Driving with wet brakes is dangerous.

Increased stopping distance or the vehicle pulling to one side when braking could result in a serious accident. Light braking will indicate whether the brakes have been aff ected.

• Do not drive with your foot held on the clutch pedal or brake pedal, or hold the clutch pedal depressed halfway unnecessarily. Doing so could result in the following:
• The clutch and brake parts will wear out more quickly.
• The brakes can overheat and adversely aff ect brake performance.
• Always depress the brake pedal with the right foot. Applying the brakes with the unaccustomed left foot could slow your reaction time to an emergency situation resulting in insuffi cient braking operation.

• Wear shoes appropriate for driving in order to avoid your shoe contacting the brake pedal when depressing the accelerator pedal.