What drivers used to know - high beam by foot switch
10/10/2017
Around 40 or 50 years ago, it was not at all common to reach for the steering column lever to switch between high and low beam. In fact, the lever on the steering wheel hadn't even been around that long back then and was usually only used to switch the blinker on/off. However, the high beam had to be switched on in a different way.
Many car manufacturers chose the foot switch for this, which was usually located to the left of the clutch pedal (in left-hand drive cars). Each press of the switch switched between high and low beam, or vice versa. The Beetle also still had this foot switch at the beginning of the 1960s and this device was actually quite practical as long as you didn't have to press the clutch pedal at the same time. For many drivers at the time, pressing the foot pedal was a matter of course and there may even still be a few old hands today who sometimes automatically look for the button in the footwell. Today, however, it has long since died out and even the light switch is already automated in some cars.
