Mazda 2012 MX-5 Owner's Manual page 164

CAUTION
Ø 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:
Ø
The clutch and brake parts will
wear out more quickly.
Ø
The brakes can overheat and
adversely affect brake
performance.
Ø 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 insufficient braking
operation.
Ø Wear shoes appropriate for driving
in order to avoid your shoe
contacting the brake pedal when
depressing the accelerator pedal.
Starting and Driving
qParking Brake
WARNING
Before leaving the driver's seat, always
switch the ignition to OFF/LOCK, set the
parking brake and make sure the shift
lever is in P (automatic transmission) or
in 1st gear or R (manual transmission):
It is important to switch the ignition
to OFF/LOCK even if you are not
removing the key from the ignition or
leaving the vehicle. Leaving the key
in other positions will disable some of
the vehicle security systems and run
the battery down.
Leaving the driver's seat without
switching the ignition to OFF/LOCK,
setting the parking brake and
shifting the shift lever to P
(automatic transmission) or to 1st
gear or R (manual transmission) is
dangerous. Unexpected vehicle
movement could occur. This could
cause an accident.
CAUTION
Driving with the parking brake on
will cause excessive wear of the brake
linings or pads.
NOTE
For parking in snow, refer to Winter Driving
(page 4-9) regarding parking brake use.
Driving Your Mazda
5-7