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Although with experience driving a stick is easy, and something you don’t even think about, acting like it is easy for anyone to pick-up is ridiculous. That is a lot more to initially think about, and there are many who are already overly distracted.
Although with experience driving a stick is easy, and something you don’t even think about, acting like it is easy for anyone to pick-up is ridiculous. That is a lot more to initially think about, and there are many who are already overly distracted.
I’m 64 and driving a manual is second nature no thought on how to do it. Why people have a problem is beyond me, like op said i started out on a 3 on the tree.
Only lazy US drivers can't drive stick. Pretty much in all other parts of the world most cars are still manual. I find it pathetic when a grown man can't operate a manual transmission. I've owned precisely 1 car with automatic - my very first one, which was a hand down from my father over 20 years ago. After that I owned nothing but manual and all my current cars are stick. And before people start bitching about hilly areas I live in San Francisco and drive a manual there just fine. With no power steering, brakes, or windows, mind you.
Only lazy US drivers can't drive stick. Pretty much in all other parts of the world most cars are still manual. I find it pathetic when a grown man can't operate a manual transmission. I've owned precisely 1 car with automatic - my very first one, which was a hand down from my father over 20 years ago. After that I owned nothing but manual and all my current cars are stick. And before people start bitching about hilly areas I live in San Francisco and drive a manual there just fine. With no power steering, brakes, or windows, mind you.
The problem for many is the manual gearbox cars are rare in America so finding one to learn on is not easy. For the last 30 years only the most anemic power trains or high end cars have had manuals. Neither category of owner is going to want you learning on their car.
Although with experience driving a stick is easy, and something you don’t even think about, acting like it is easy for anyone to pick-up is ridiculous. That is a lot more to initially think about, and there are many who are already overly distracted.
I learned to drive a stick after a few years of driving automatics. That itself came a few years after lots of bicycle riding on a range of roads in bustling city to sparsely-populated rural areas. Learning to drive a stick was easy in that progression because I first learned the rules of the road, mapreading, and defensive “driving” on a bicycle (which travels next to, but not inside, car lanes), then operating a car with an automatic, and finally adding in the nuts and bolts of thinking ahead a lot more and timing shifts.
I think doing it the way it was done waaay back when there were no automatics would have been difficult: jump right in! The folks who learned to do so in a vacant farm field had the right idea.
I don't know what the percentage of Americans who know how to drive stick is, but, car dealers in America are now only offering 5% of their cars with manual transmissions. The percentage number continues to shrink. I know how to drive stick because my Dad wanted to make sure I knew how.
such a weird thing to say. that someone can drive a car for hundreds of thousands of miles and still not know how to drive a car. im not sure why anyone should be learning how to drive a stick since it is antiquated and obsolete technology. are you still using a typewriter?
it isnt a positive quality for older people to complain that young people dont know how to do things in their prehistoric ways. its called progress, people should progress not complain about how people dont do things the old fashioned way.
I agree. Why is it seem by some to be such an important skill? In most cases it just isn’t necessary. Not knowing how to drive stick is definitely not due to laziness.
What would you do if you had to drive someone to the hospital in a emergency situation and the only vehicle available was a manual transmission, and you had no time to wait to call 911. That’s why i thought all my daughters to drive a manual transmission. Now my oldest is a semi driver driving a 10 speed manual transmission. My brothers western star had a 18 speed manual he was a heavy hauler.
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