Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Funny bit of news on the radio

Listening to the radio on my way to work and it was the 8am news and the first order of the day was an attempted car jacking gone totally wrong. Why? Because the car jacker couldn't drive the manual gear car she was trying to hijack. Lucky for the owner of the car two men witnessed the event and apprehended the 20 year old woman who attempted to take her car. I heard the 'couldn't drive a manual' bit and I was theoretically of course I was driving after all.

That is pretty funny! Sounds like the would-be culprit needs to find a new occupation.

Actually, it amazes me how many people can't drive a manual transmission. I have always thought it was one of those basic things everyone should learn.

*snicker* That's great.

A lot of people don't know how to drive manuals because they didn't have access to them, with a lot of people driving automatics nowadays. Or they're like me, and couldn't get a grasp on it. My dad stopped the lessons after I spent 15 minutes trying to get past a stop sign on a hill.

My first, third, and fourth (current) vehicles were all manual transmissions. And I think it's true that not a lot of people have manual transmissions nowadays, unless they're specifically looking for it in a car.

Everybody ought to know how to drive one. What would you do in an emergency? (Maybe you wouldn't have to stop on a hill.)

Many years ago, I was teaching a friend of mine to drive a manual. We were coming to a stop light that I figured was about to change. I told her to hurry up because she didn't want to stop on the hill. She didn't listen and stopped on the hill. We had to put the emergency brake on and switch sides because she couldn't get it any further. )

In the UK and Ireland, the standard driving test is for manual transmission, and handling of gears, knowing when to change and to do so smoothly and so on is an important component of the test. It is possible to take a test in an automatic, but then the licence which will be issued restricts the driver to cars with automatic transmission and if they then try to drive a manual vehicle they're driving without a licence.


Wendy

I've always said that you should know how to drive a manual because then you can drive just about anything (barring specialized vehicles, of course.) The car I first learned to drive on was my parents' 1959 three-speed manual transmission Chevrolet carryall -- the darned thing was the size of a brontosaurus (almost, anyway), weighed three times what a van weighs these days and didn't have power steering, but I sure as heck can drive just about anything now as a result of that monster -- which was a real help when we moved most of our possessions in a pretty good-sized U-haul. I could park it when my hubby couldn't.

Nan

In Maryland, the driver's education courses are offered both for manual and automatic transmissions. When I was taking the class, manual cost more, so I took automatic, and just had my dad teach me manual.

There really isn't an official way to keep track of who can only drive automatic over here--those who can't usually just avoid it. Though I DO have to wonder--as others in this thread have done--what automatic-only drivers do in emergency situations when only manuals are available.

I'd have to say, I was surprised when the guy at the car dealership I bought my new Beetle from said that HE was surprised I could drive a manual when I'm only 23.

My WHOLE family (minus my brother, who's only 11) can drive manual and automatic without any trouble, and my sisters keep insisting that manual is better anyway. Anna's big on cars, and Kimba's had boyfriends who were into racing, so they prefer manual anyway.

Me, I just drive it. As long as it'll get me from A to B, it's a good car in my book.

Down here if you learn on a automatic for the first provisional stage (you go through three stages to get your full qualifications in NSW now) you can ony drive an auto car. However, once you get to your second provisional stage you can drive either.

An update on the car jacking thing turns out that the 20 year old woman who had tried to hijack the car is addicted to the party drug Ice and was going through hallucinations that made her think that a taxi driver had taken off with her 2 year old kid. Hearing that now doesn't make the incident seem so funny any more. Makes you realise what the impact of drugs can do to you and your life.

My dad taught me to drive a manual in his "baby"; but quickly gave up as he stressed over every grinding noise. My next experience with manual was when I was trained to drive our old 1972 fire engine. You had to double clutch the thing constantly; but I was able to stop and start on a hill (with a tank full of water!) and was quite proud of myself. Shortly thereafter my family vacationed in Aruba where we took a cool "Jeep" tour around the island. All the cars were manual and I did fairly well until I realized we were going straight up on some rock cliffs (okay, I'm sure it wasn't really straight up, it just felt like it!) Luckily the tour guide decided to join our vehicle and drive the rest of the way.

But I now at least feel confident enough that in an emergency (unless it involves driving up cliffs) I can drive a manual. However, I rarely see them. (Although my dad does own a convertible manual--probably to thwart my sister from driving it. But since he records the mileage (seriously--and I'm 34!) before leaving on vacation each and every time, I never have a chance to drive it.)

What always amazed me in driving class, however, was that we were never taught how to parallel park. The instructor said that there was no reason to teach it since everyone goes to the mall. And yet I find myself on parking on downtown streets on a regular basis!!

Julie

Both vehicles my hubby and I own are manuals (Honda Civic & Jeep). I LOVE driving a manual. I like the greater feeling of control I have (and the need to downshift every so often...)

But when we got married, I had never even set foot in a manual car. I had grown up with automatics. Hubby desperately wanted to get a manual little "pocket-rocket" (as he called it) and so taught me how to drive one.

Once I learned - I was hooked.

However, my younger sister who's almost 21, still doesn't know how to drive one...

But I think everyone should at least attempt to learn (heh - if I can do it - anyone can) it's a good skill to have I think.

-- DJ

I thought that only happened in Ferris Bueller!

I learned on an automatic. Both of my parents wanted me to learn on a manual (one of the few things they agreed on) but there wasn't one available. However, when I bought my first car, my mom made me get a stick, and I had to drive it back to college that same weekend. Talk about learning on the fly!

My husband never learned to drive a manual and consquently is actually kind of scared of them (which is exactly why my parents wanted me to learn that way first). One of the few sticking points in the early days of our marriage was my insistence that he learn since my car is a manual. The what-if-there-is-an-emergency factor goes way up when one half of a couple can't drive one of their two cars! He has learned and is actually very good at it - he didn't even stall out the first time he drove it, which is just not fair - but he is still very nervous driving it and consequently avoids it. I admit that still irritates me, but (shrug) what can you do?

I've never driven a manual and have no desire to learn. There is absolutely no likely emergency scenario where only a manual would be available. I mean, sure, I could be kidnapped and held prisoner and manage to escape when the kidnappers aren't there and there be only a manual vehicle available - but it's not likely.

Never say never.

Well, I didn't say "never" - so I guess I'm learning.

In Europe, the vast majority of cars are manual. Most people learn to drive a manual car, and most people buy a manual car. If you hire a car, you'll pay significantly more for an automatic than a manual, and if you buy a car, the same applies.

So if you visit Europe, and you can only drive an automatic, be prepared to pay more if you want to hire a car.

Personally, I enjoy driving automatics, but so long as the majority of cars over here are manual, I'll stick with a manual. Shortly after I passed my test, I only had access to an automatic for a year or so, and the consequence of that was that my gear-changing skills got very rusty. When I had to drive a manual again (in very busy traffic in London), it was a fairly scary experience for me, my passengers, and my fellow road-users.

Yvonne

Well, I don't plan to visit Europe, as I hate travel. And, even if I did visit, I would be more apt to take public transportation or hire a taxi (even in the US) because I dread the idea of driving somewhere where I'm unfamiliar with my surroundings. Doubly so in another country where I'm not familiar with the traffic laws (and no way could I handle driving on the left side of the road).

Driving on the left was awesome! And in a manual to boot!

Funnily enough, after two weeks in Ireland I got in on the wrong side of the car when I came home and sat there, utterly perplexed for a few seconds, because the steering wheel was in the "wrong" place.

Those of you (like me) who drive manual all the time . . .

When you get in a car with automatic transmission, do you ever put your left foot down, and then wonder where the clutch went? I know I do.

This is what always makes it so weird for me to drive automatic after a long time of manual driving. That, and my right hand always wants to shift.

I had to rent a car this past week because I was getting the brakes in my Bug fixed.

I learned how to drive on an automatic, but then had to learn to drive a stick because I was forced (hand me down car I bought from my brother). I was determined at the time to learn, be competent, and then as soon as I got the chance, switch to an automatic and stay there the rest of my life.

Then my car died and my only considerations when looking for another were: Power locks, power windows and Manual Transmission! :p

I love driving a manual and yes, DSDragon, I do find my left foot reaching for the clutch when I'm in an automatic. Usually both feet manage to find the brake at the same time and we have an...abrupt stop.

Bethy

Yep!

LOL, Sue! Try driving on the right with a manual after years of driving on the left. All of a sudden, you're changing gear with your right hand instead of your left and the handbrake is in the wrong place. Lots of fun.

Actually, my favourite was practising in my first hire car in the States. I'd driven automatics before, so that was fine. However, I decided to do a couple of safety laps around the car park before venturing out onto the open road. Unfortunately, I forgot that driving on the right also meant my laps should have been counter-clockwise by convention. Lots of unamused drivers in car park.

Yvonne

Yvonne

Ha Yvonne! I know what you mean. The first time I drove on the left was last year and I spent the first day whacking the door with my right hand every time I needed to change gears.

Unamused drivers? My first scary moments were in Edinburgh during the morning rush hour. I learned really fast that there's a lane solely for buses and that when the light flashes yellow after red you can actually *go* if the crosswalk is clear.

Oh, what a great topic!

I always drive a manual. In university, it was great because no one ever asked to borrow my car . Now... well, now when I buy a car, I ask for all the bells and whistles except that I don't want antilock breaks or an automatic transmission. It's just so much more fun driving a manual.

Me, too. In fact, my difficulty with an automatic tends to be that I drive with my right foot on the gas and my left on the break. I have to practically sit on my left foot to keep from hitting the gas and the break at the same time .

One of my favorite things to do is to stop on a hill and then play with the gas and the clutch so that I'm not sliding backwards without putting my foot on the break. (I know, I'm a little bit crazy )

ML

I, too, am that sad person. It's a matter of pride not to use the brake on a hill, but to come to a perfect standstill using only clutch control.

Yvonne

Please tell me that's not a sudden stop!

Sue (who drove her husband crazy when she would hover on the hill with the clutch half-out and the gas pedal just-so - which is to say, of course, that I still do that. Dire predictions aside, I still haven't burned out the clutch on the car.)

Emergency situation... really happened to me. Before I learned to drive a stick a friend of mine and I were out in the middle of no where. She got very sick and was throwing up. She ended up in the emergency room, but it took us longer to get her there because I couldn't drive the stick. She kept having to stop to throw up.....


Oh, yeah!

I totally do this! And then I feel very superior thinking of all those poor automatic drivers around me.

The only complaint I have about driving an stick is that it is a major pain during rush hour, stop-and-go traffic. For that reason alone, I think my next car will probably be an automatic.

Oh, yeah, when I lived in Columbus, Ohio, I was once stuck on icy roads in slow moving traffic for three hours. My poor arthritic left knee was unhappy for a week because of all that clutch action. I vowed to never drive a stick in high traffic areas again unless I absolutely have to. (Pretty funny when you consider how much more control you have on ice with a stick.)

I drive down to D.C. one evening a week - between 5 and 6pm, and then I drive back from 8-9pm - talk about your traffic.

I don't do that very often, but I do reach down to shift. A lot. My right hand claws at air so much I've started warning people when I rent cars for business trips not to be alarmed by my spastic hand gestures ;p

I learned on a manual transmission. I own a manual. Every car my parents own is also a manual.

Automatics drive me nuts -- I cannot get used to the fact that idling forward on an automatic essentially means: lift foot off brake. Instead, I usually tap the accelerator and go rocketing forward, much to the dismay of my passengers ;p

I lived in Arlington (DC suburb) up until a year ago. Now I live a bit further out, but close enough still. Alas, DC absolutely sucks for manual drivers Stop-and-go. Stop-and-go. Stop-and-go. When I drive during peak hours my foot usually starts to hurt.

Feet, ankles, knees--I drive a subcompact (new Beetle), on top of a manual.

Not to mention, I've got a bad right knee.