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I like manuals because they feel better to me. This is totally anecdotal but to me it seems like the stick keeps me more engaged with what's happening with the

I like manuals because they feel better to me. This is totally anecdotal but to me it seems like the stick keeps me more engaged with what's happening with the car so I find I tend to be less distracted. It also occupies a hand so it definitely prevents a lot of phone usage. If this could actually be proved I'd definitely welcome a return to manual transmissions as sometimes I feel like the only person not on their phone in traffic...

dazc 8y ago
'...so it definitely prevents a lot of phone usage. From the UK, where stick shift is very much the norm, it doesn't.
- AWildC182 8y ago
  I doubt it prevents it, but I think it might lessen it. I remember at one point in my teens seeing someone driving a manual Miata in traffic while putting on makeup, texting and drinking a soda, all in a car famous for not having cup holders. It was pretty impressive...
  - tom_ 8y ago
    In the UK the gear stick is on the left, so even if you have a manual gearbox your right hand is still free for the phone.
    - robjan 8y ago
      How about the steering wheel. Driving at any speed while holding your phone is quite hard on a manual unless you are happy to destroy your gearbox
  - dazc 8y ago
    I'll concede widespread automatic usage here would lead to even more mobile phone usage. It's common here to see people texting while driving and I don't understand what goes through people's minds to make them think this isn't a crazy thing to do?
mulmen 8y ago
We should just revoke drivers licenses for people who can't operate cars responsibly. It's way too easy to get a license and keep one in the US today. We don't even re-test.
- Someone1234 8y ago
  Outside of the East and West coasts and other high density cities, it is difficult to revoke licenses simply because there's no infrastructure in place as an alternative to driving. Large parts of the US today there's no public transport, and even no sidewalks(!) in some places. You could ride a bike, but that requires physicality and drivers aren't exactly bike-friendly. If there was a realistic alternative to driving, you might see it become easier to revoke a driver's license, but until then, it just isn't viable.
  - mulmen 8y ago
    Agreed that it can’t work everywhere but 80% of Americans live in cities so there are significant populations that don’t need cars.
- zanny 8y ago
  Easy to say from the position of thinking you can't lose your license or have the financial means to deal with such a loss. For a majority of those living in the US the places they live and work have been so fundamentally designed around cars that no alternative form of transit is usable. Busses might run once a day, no sidewalks, no bike lanes amidst 5 layer highways. Even getting out of ones housing development via anything but a car can be challenging if its a fenced in community with winding lane and a half roads parked full of cars. I'd naturally much prefer more strict licensing and more frequent license revocation - if for no other reason than it would demonstrably save many lives - but only after we solve the car sprawl hellscape that is a majority of settled US territory.
  - dionidium 8y ago
    > Easy to say from the position of thinking you can't lose your license or have the financial means to deal with such a loss. There's a villainous cycle at work here. Car supremacy produces cities in which you need a car, so that attempts to push back on car supremacy can be credibly opposed on the grounds that they hurt the poor and less advantaged, when of course the very opposite thing is true.
analog31 8y ago
I figured out how to eat, use my phone, etc., driving a stick shift car. If manual transmission cars were safer, they would be cheaper to insure.
y_tho 8y ago
> This is totally anecdotal but to me it seems like the stick keeps me more engaged with what's happening with the car so I find I tend to be less distracted. Doesn't that go against the adage that after a week shifting becomes muscle memory or is there something else?

dazc 8y ago

'...so it definitely prevents a lot of phone usage. From the UK, where stick shift is very much the norm, it doesn't.

AWildC182 8y ago
I doubt it prevents it, but I think it might lessen it. I remember at one point in my teens seeing someone driving a manual Miata in traffic while putting on makeup, texting and drinking a soda, all in a car famous for not having cup holders. It was pretty impressive...
- tom_ 8y ago
  In the UK the gear stick is on the left, so even if you have a manual gearbox your right hand is still free for the phone.
  - robjan 8y ago
    How about the steering wheel. Driving at any speed while holding your phone is quite hard on a manual unless you are happy to destroy your gearbox
- dazc 8y ago
  I'll concede widespread automatic usage here would lead to even more mobile phone usage. It's common here to see people texting while driving and I don't understand what goes through people's minds to make them think this isn't a crazy thing to do?

mulmen 8y ago

We should just revoke drivers licenses for people who can't operate cars responsibly. It's way too easy to get a license and keep one in the US today. We don't even re-test.

Someone1234 8y ago
Outside of the East and West coasts and other high density cities, it is difficult to revoke licenses simply because there's no infrastructure in place as an alternative to driving. Large parts of the US today there's no public transport, and even no sidewalks(!) in some places. You could ride a bike, but that requires physicality and drivers aren't exactly bike-friendly. If there was a realistic alternative to driving, you might see it become easier to revoke a driver's license, but until then, it just isn't viable.
- mulmen 8y ago
  Agreed that it can’t work everywhere but 80% of Americans live in cities so there are significant populations that don’t need cars.
zanny 8y ago
Easy to say from the position of thinking you can't lose your license or have the financial means to deal with such a loss. For a majority of those living in the US the places they live and work have been so fundamentally designed around cars that no alternative form of transit is usable. Busses might run once a day, no sidewalks, no bike lanes amidst 5 layer highways. Even getting out of ones housing development via anything but a car can be challenging if its a fenced in community with winding lane and a half roads parked full of cars. I'd naturally much prefer more strict licensing and more frequent license revocation - if for no other reason than it would demonstrably save many lives - but only after we solve the car sprawl hellscape that is a majority of settled US territory.
- dionidium 8y ago
  > Easy to say from the position of thinking you can't lose your license or have the financial means to deal with such a loss. There's a villainous cycle at work here. Car supremacy produces cities in which you need a car, so that attempts to push back on car supremacy can be credibly opposed on the grounds that they hurt the poor and less advantaged, when of course the very opposite thing is true.

analog31 8y ago

I figured out how to eat, use my phone, etc., driving a stick shift car. If manual transmission cars were safer, they would be cheaper to insure.

y_tho 8y ago

> This is totally anecdotal but to me it seems like the stick keeps me more engaged with what's happening with the car so I find I tend to be less distracted. Doesn't that go against the adage that after a week shifting becomes muscle memory or is there something else?