4 ms·

This article completely misses what I have observed as a major factor in nearly everyone switching to automatics: Drunk driving became illegal, then agressivel

This article completely misses what I have observed as a major factor in nearly everyone switching to automatics: Drunk driving became illegal, then agressively enforced. This created a powerful incentive for having a vehicle anyone can drive. All my friends growing up were gearheads of some kind, and drove manual cars. Now they have automatics, so they can continue to get drunk when out and have someone sober (their wives, generally) drive them home. Don't forget letting the female half of the population drive in the US is a relatively new development as well...

mikestew 8y ago
Don't forget letting the female half of the population drive in the US is a relatively new development as well... Do you mean to say "new" as in "before this old man who is bordering on retirement was born"? Maybe you city folk kept the ladies in the passenger seat, but out on the farm and you don't drive stick, you're not much use. My long-dead grandmother drove everything from the farm truck full of livestock for the sale barn, to driving us kids to church on Sunday when we stayed with her. Were I to guess, if there were a time women didn't generally drive, it was maybe the '50s and before. Sure wasn't the 60s. Besides, as I was discussing with my wife (who shifts more smoothly than you do) this weekend: manuals aren't what kept women from driving, it was lack of power steering. You can teach a seven-year-old to drive stick.
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  Well, 8 year old I think. That's when I learned to drive the truck on the farm, and it was surely a manual. My sister taught me.
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  Any societal shift I can clearly see in my lifetime beginning with my grandparents spanning into my generation I consider relatively new. Hell it's still a novelty to see coverage of women in automobile racing. Even when they aren't competitive, the media will broadcast their image just for participation alone. Culturally, it's still fairly common to hear comments about women drivers being inferior. So I think we're clearly not even out of the woods yet today.
peeters 8y ago
This reminds me of the Yoga Bera quote, (paraphrasing) "that place is so busy, nobody goes there any more." If manual was universal, then everybody used to know how to drive it. The situation you describe wouldn't have made sense 50 years ago. The only reason a generation of wives would know how to drive automatic but not manual is if automatic was already the mainstream choice. So what you're saying might strengthen the feedback loop, but it can't be the cause of the trend to start with.
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  I'm only speaking to why it's vanishing, how even the last vestiges of the gearheads have arrived at automatics.
  - cuddlecake 8y ago
    Footnote: Anectodal Evidence
slavapestov 8y ago
> Don't forget letting the female half of the population drive in the US is a relatively new development as well... This is completely false, my understanding is there was never a prohibition against women driving in the USA, although maybe at one point in the past it was less common. Also I don't see what this has to do with your earlier point about drunk driving.
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  I'm not saying it was illegal. It was largely disallowed. Men made all the money, automobiles were expensive and complicated, and it was still considered uncertain if women were capable of handling the complexity. Our history is full of examples of activities effectively prevented en masse by society without being explicitly illegal. Just because our past is embarrassing doesn't make it untrue. Edit: With regards to how it integrates into my comments about drunk driving and designated drivers; having women become generally accepted as peers in the operation of automobiles changed the parameters for purchasing the vehicle for the household. If I'm going to continue drinking regularly, and I'm no longer allowed to drive drunk, and we collectively regard women as perfectly acceptable behind the wheel - I'm buying a car that I know my wife can drive as well as I can, not necessarily my preferred model.

mikestew 8y ago

Don't forget letting the female half of the population drive in the US is a relatively new development as well... Do you mean to say "new" as in "before this old man who is bordering on retirement was born"? Maybe you city folk kept the ladies in the passenger seat, but out on the farm and you don't drive stick, you're not much use. My long-dead grandmother drove everything from the farm truck full of livestock for the sale barn, to driving us kids to church on Sunday when we stayed with her. Were I to guess, if there were a time women didn't generally drive, it was maybe the '50s and before. Sure wasn't the 60s. Besides, as I was discussing with my wife (who shifts more smoothly than you do) this weekend: manuals aren't what kept women from driving, it was lack of power steering. You can teach a seven-year-old to drive stick.

JoeAltmaier 8y ago
Well, 8 year old I think. That's when I learned to drive the truck on the farm, and it was surely a manual. My sister taught me.
newnewpdro 8y ago
Any societal shift I can clearly see in my lifetime beginning with my grandparents spanning into my generation I consider relatively new. Hell it's still a novelty to see coverage of women in automobile racing. Even when they aren't competitive, the media will broadcast their image just for participation alone. Culturally, it's still fairly common to hear comments about women drivers being inferior. So I think we're clearly not even out of the woods yet today.

peeters 8y ago

This reminds me of the Yoga Bera quote, (paraphrasing) "that place is so busy, nobody goes there any more." If manual was universal, then everybody used to know how to drive it. The situation you describe wouldn't have made sense 50 years ago. The only reason a generation of wives would know how to drive automatic but not manual is if automatic was already the mainstream choice. So what you're saying might strengthen the feedback loop, but it can't be the cause of the trend to start with.

newnewpdro 8y ago
I'm only speaking to why it's vanishing, how even the last vestiges of the gearheads have arrived at automatics.
- cuddlecake 8y ago
  Footnote: Anectodal Evidence

slavapestov 8y ago

> Don't forget letting the female half of the population drive in the US is a relatively new development as well... This is completely false, my understanding is there was never a prohibition against women driving in the USA, although maybe at one point in the past it was less common. Also I don't see what this has to do with your earlier point about drunk driving.

newnewpdro 8y ago
I'm not saying it was illegal. It was largely disallowed. Men made all the money, automobiles were expensive and complicated, and it was still considered uncertain if women were capable of handling the complexity. Our history is full of examples of activities effectively prevented en masse by society without being explicitly illegal. Just because our past is embarrassing doesn't make it untrue. Edit: With regards to how it integrates into my comments about drunk driving and designated drivers; having women become generally accepted as peers in the operation of automobiles changed the parameters for purchasing the vehicle for the household. If I'm going to continue drinking regularly, and I'm no longer allowed to drive drunk, and we collectively regard women as perfectly acceptable behind the wheel - I'm buying a car that I know my wife can drive as well as I can, not necessarily my preferred model.