You should drive a car with no brakes, it's amazing how much safer you drive when you realize you can't stop quickly enough. Seriously. I had no choice a few years ago when driving my project '83 VW GTI across the neighborhood. I was in the middle of replacing my e-brake cables and thus had no e-brake. Lucky for me, my master cylinder failed half way there, brake pedal to the floor. Engine braking from 35 to a stop sucks, especially on a car you are trying to keep running. Not to mention the fact that I literally could do nothing short of drag my feet (which I obviously didn't) to scrub speed.

Did it ever occur to you to just NOT pull the lever? Use your head.