seems like it would be awfully slow for any experienced vimmer also. Seems like a really bad idea for a foot pedal / vim integration.
A, possibly, much better idea would be if you press the pedal, is turn the hjkl keys into sending actual arrow key keycodes so those annoying times when you need to arrow through OS menus etc you can use your vim instincts. Not that I'd ever want to incorporate a foot pedal myself, but seems like a better use. Vims keyboard drive approach is super quick as is, if you are having trouble with getting into and out of insert mode, maybe Vim isn't for you.
A, possibly, much better idea would be if you press the pedal, is turn the hjkl keys into sending actual arrow key keycodes so those annoying times when you need to arrow through OS menus etc you can use your vim instincts. Not that I'd ever want to incorporate a foot pedal myself, but seems like a better use. Vims keyboard drive approach is super quick as is, if you are having trouble with getting into and out of insert mode, maybe Vim isn't for you.