I thought that to make a car go faster, you spun the wheel faster - clockwise to go forwards, counter to go backwards. You pushed the right or left pedal to turn.
A childhood belief about cars

others believed things like this
- i used to think that the faster you go in your car, the faster the car radio went.— Matt
- Red shoes make you run faster. — Ann B.
- I once believed that one could run around the south pole in order to travel backwards and forwards in time.— kaibutsu
- I have a cousin who thought he could run faster when he got new shoes .. Anon
- When I was young I thought that after pulling out off a petrol station the car would go faster— Amine
- Whenever my fingers wrinkled from staying in the pool too long, I thought I was aging faster.— The Mortal Elf