True, good point. But it's very very hard to do that on an aircraft because space is at a huge premium. You simply don't have infinite space around the pedals.

True, good point. But it's very very hard to do that on an aircraft because space is at a huge premium. You simply don't have infinite space around the pedals. Or other controls for that matter. For example a clipboard could fall on the center pedestal and flip one of the gazillion switches. Luckily most important ones have barriers around them, or other safeguards like the need to lift up the lever before moving it.