Riding the clutch

Riding the clutch is when you rest your left foot on the clutch pedal while driving, partially depressing it. This will help to wear the clutch out prematurely. It often occurs without the driver realising they are doing it, so to avoid this you should remove your foot from over the clutch pedal after you have finished accelerating and changing into the lower gears so as to avoid temptation of resting it on the clutch pedal. Learn to do this without thinking about it as soon as you are comfortably travelling at your desired crusing speed.

A good way to avoid riding the clutch is to place your left foot to the left of the clutch. Many cars will, if you attempt this, offer an excellent block thingy upon which to rest your idle limb.

This will keep you from depressing whichever pedal happens to be underfoot - clutch or brake. Moreover, if/when you decide to crash your vehicle, you'll appreciate having something stable to brace yourself on, that you may survive to crash another day.

By having something stable underfoot, you should be able to tone down your body's desire to fly forward, assuming a head-on crash is what you're after. This will stop your head from hitting the steering wheel, and should therefore give you some time to wonder why you aren't wearing a seatbelt, as you wait for the airbag to arrive and provide some much-needed R & R for what has turned out to be a mostly stressful afternoon.

Additionally, my (Australian) driving instructor once spake thus: To disobey this teaching is to disobey the Urban Priesthood themselves. Do you hear me, child!? Such does not simply offend the sensibilities, nay, 'tis unlawful unto itself!

That driving instructor cost way too much.