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I believe this has a lot to do with the culture for each family. If your lineage has lots of Annie Oakley type characters, they very well may have driven stick, owned pickup trucks, and could parallel park a horse trailer on the first try.
My mother was the youngest commercial bus drive in Iowa - ever (as far as we know). She started driving one of grandpa's school buses to high school when she started high school (age 13 or 14). She would pick up the kids, collect their fees, drive to the school, park, and go in to classes. This would have been sometime in the 1940s. The buses were wooden. However, when I knew her, she did not drive stick and said she did not know how.
We have several other Annie Oakley types. Naturally back int he 1920s and 1930s everyone who drove, drove manual transmissions. However we are talking about 2018. I would be willing to bet nearly half of our population has never even seen a manual transmission car that they knew was manual transmission. https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/...-drive-manual/
My family includes 273 members last time I had a count. They are from 27 states. While not a huge sample, it is more broad and representative than many scientific studies. (Except that all of them are or once were Jensens or are descended from a Jensen). TO the best of my knowledge, fewer than 10 women in our family can/will drive stick. Then you add in my wife's family and it is the same, although I think there are only about 75 - 100 of them that we know about.
However, as I said, it is not just my family. Most of the women I know anywhere cannot or will not drive stick. There are a few exceptions, but they are rare.
It appears women do not often become car/driving fans. It is really only driving aficionados who choose to drive stick now. Good automatics shift better than humans can (this was not the case a few years ago), so there is no increased efficiency. As a result some women I knew who drove stick shift cars for better efficiency no longer do so and have indicated they never will again.
Women simply are not into cars and driving the way men are. Of course there are a few exceptions, but they are rare. I have been involved in cars/car clubs and driving for over 40 years. During that time, I have met three female mechanics. I belong to three car clubs. Only one of them has a female member. That is out of over 300 people total. I go to car shows for various clubs, it is almost entirely men. SCCA races - almost entirely men. Nascar races are more of a mix but still mostly men.
Maybe if you link some massive study to a hundred thousand or so people that show women have equal interest in driving and cars I might believe it. Maybe. however the entirety of my life experience shows otherwise.
I know it is really unpopular right now to acknowledge men and women are in any way different and/or have different interest, but reality does not care one whit about what is popular.
This is excellent information from someone with specific knowledge of the industry.
You'll find that many of these large, public companies slashing retiree healthcare choose to be SELF-INSURED, and are on the hook for more than just the employer contribution. Not my favorite arrangement as an employee who stands to have no subsidy in retirement. Possibly even no coverage.
Our company pays the first $100,000 of each employee's health care costs. It is cheaper than paying for insurance premiums. I do not think we get any health care coverage fro m the company upon retirement. We are on our own. I just hope medicare does not go belly up before i die. We do have an HSA, so I will have some money for healthcare on retirement which is more than many people will have.
Our company pays the first $100,000 of each employee's health care costs. It is cheaper than paying for insurance premiums. I do not think we get any health care coverage fro m the company upon retirement. We are on our own. I just hope medicare does not go belly up before i die. We do have an HSA, so I will have some money for healthcare on retirement which is more than many people will have.
I am planning on delaying retirement as much as I can, it would feel like I'm leaving too much earning capacity on the table. Regardless of whatever pension you can still collect from a handful of companies - whether it's $18k a year or $60k, it would be a hit to the standard of living I am achieving by working.
I like what I do, which helps. I think the responsible thing for me to do, for me and for my family, is to stay in the game as long as possible, USE MY VACATION DAYS, and my time outside of work wisely.
I don't understand the purpose or appeal of the CVT, in my experience it really saps power on startup and hills but with seemingly no benefit. The cars with CVT transmissions aren't best in class in MPG. So it must be cheaper for the manufacturer
I don't understand the purpose or appeal of the CVT, in my experience it really saps power on startup and hills but with seemingly no benefit. The cars with CVT transmissions aren't best in class in MPG. So it must be cheaper for the manufacturer
I'm not a fan of CVTs. I like having a definite gear and knowing I'm in it. These new 8- and 10-speed transmissions seem completely alien to me. Too many gears. 6 is perfect. Though the 7-speed manual Corvette is worth a try...
The absolute worst gear ratio change is 3rd to 4th in a 2012 Chrysler 200. Biggest drop in RPM I've ever seen in a modern car. If they can't get it right, maybe it's time for a CVT! LOL
The gas tax should be raised so that it fully fund the roads, like it is in Europe. Would incentivise people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles and help with energy independence.
The gas tax should be raised so that it fully fund the roads, like it is in Europe. Would incentivise people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles and help with energy independence.
As it is right now the gas tax is way too low.
Completely agree.
Meanwhile, in the backwards state I live in our governor wants to penalize those who own electric & hybrid vehicles by raising their annual registration fees. You know for reducing fossil fuels & carbon footprint & trying to think of others. Meanwhile the neighbor across the street driving the gas-guzzling Dodge Ram would be awarded while she/he blows pollution all over town.
The gas tax should be raised so that it fully fund the roads, like it is in Europe. Would incentivise people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles and help with energy independence.
As it is right now the gas tax is way too low.
Are we going to tax electricity for Tesla’s to pay for roads as well?
Meanwhile, in the backwards state I live in our governor wants to penalize those who own electric & hybrid vehicles by raising their annual registration fees. You know for reducing fossil fuels & carbon footprint & trying to think of others. Meanwhile the neighbor across the street driving the gas-guzzling Dodge Ram would be awarded while she/he blows pollution all over town.
Maybe you aren't being as environmentally friendly as you think:
Electrics/Hybrids use and deteriorate roads just like any other car so they should pay for those miles traveled like any other car. If that means they pay more in registration fees given they don't pay as much gas tax I don't see a problem with that type of fee structure.
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