Learning to drive a stick shift should be required....

[flagtag]

I taught my daughter on my Datsun stationwagon. She did great - except when she was turning around and I had to remind her to "hit the brake!" (she forgot there was that third pedal. ) But, she caught on very quickly. My son learned from a friend.

 

[handgun]

The truck I learned to drive on as a Teenager had two transmissions and 18 gears...

Two Transmissions? what the heck where you driving? That seems strange. Won't lie.

I personally like manual transmissions. They are a fun to drive.. plus after driving one for a while you won't think much different. Harder to find i agree. But the convenience of a automatic is also nice. Don't know about how it should be a requirement... but definitely a good idea to know how.

 

[NapalmFTW]

In the UK if you take the drive test on an Automatic you can't legally drive anything but an automatic.

I learnt to drive a manual so I'm GTG. I just need to find a 5 speed to buy now... I hate slushboxes.

 

[Terry4570]

Three on the tree here,i have an old beater car that is five speed stick that is so sloppy it would be hard to steal.My truck and bronco are auto's kind of wish my truck was a stick,but it is what it is.You do lose some m.p.g with auto tranny and the price of diesel now days every little bit helps,my truck is a diesel.

 

[tv1217]

Weird thing about MPG, where 4 wheel vehicles get better mpg on manual, I've heard trucks get better in Auto. I also heard they were coming out with hybrids and the thought made me giggle. I bet JB Hunt will be the first to get those.

 

[gunowner930]

Of course it shouldn't be mandatory. Who wants to pay additional taxes to fund the purchase of new manual transmission equipped vehicles for those to take the drivers test in if they don't have a manual transmission equipped vehicle at their disposal for the test?

Anyways, autos are great for those of us who are lazy.

 

[confused89]

Two Transmissions? what the heck where you driving? That seems strange. Won't lie.

I personally like manual transmissions. They are a fun to drive.. plus after driving one for a while you won't think much different. Harder to find i agree. But the convenience of a automatic is also nice. Don't know about how it should be a requirement... but definitely a good idea to know how.

He was probably driving a twin stick transmission in a semi or a truck that had an auxillary transmission for heavy hauling. I am betting on the first one.

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

I agree, I think everyone should know how to drive a stick. I was actually put in a situation where I had to drive a stick. I was at a concert with a friend when he became injured, we were in his truck and it was a stick. Luckily I learned to drive in a stick so when I had to rush him to the hospital it was no problem.

 

[jeremy]

Two Transmissions? what the heck where you driving? That seems strange. Won't lie.

I was driving a late '50's International Harvester R190 Tandem Axle Grain Truck, the Ol' girl had a 549ci Gas Motor in her with a twin stick Transmission 6+3.

I still hate that old truck to this day....

 

[jeremy]

He was probably driving a twin stick transmission in a semi or a truck that had an auxillary transmission for heavy hauling. I am betting on the first one.

LOL...

The second one would be closer, it was a Tandem Axle Grain Truck we had. Oddly it was not a semi that we stretched into a grain truck, it started its life as a tandem axle firetruck.

 

[trinitrotoluene85]

I completely disagree. Most cars on the road today are automatics, and most people don't know how to drive a manual. I love my manual and have heard many stories in the past of an attempted car theft/jacking only to have the bad guy give up and go to a different car upon realizing they can't steal a car they can't drive.

Let the drivers who know how to drive a manual drive whatever they want, and those who don't know how to drive a stick drive an automatic.

No sense in teaching someone how to use a dying technology if they don't want to. Try to teach your kids how to que up a cassette tape. Why would you do that? Why would you try to force someone to learn how to drive a stick?

 

[pack-indy]

I learned the concept on a motorcycle and then a car. I prefer standard transmissions in my cars. I don't trust the younger generations to drive a stick; they are not motivated enough to get their phone out of their hands and drive the way it is. Others may argue that a standard transmission forces one to concentrate on driving (and I agree to an extent), but comfort and convience has plagued our society to the point of no return.

 

[Knife Lady]

Yep I learned in a truck changing gears on the column. Then I graduated up to a vw bug stick on the floor. I had a blast in my bug.

 

[spencer rifle]

All our kids have learned to drive stick and have standard cars. Most of their peers have no idea. Makes it tough to get help driving home from college.

 

[MrsXtremeVel]

Learned to drive a stick at the age of 12. It was an unusual truck. My dad dropped a Detroit Diesel engine in a 68 chevy pick up truck. It had the smoke stack coming out the top of the bed beside the cab. It's nickname was " Old Stinky". It was so loud that when you'd go through drive thru at Mickey D's , you'd have to shut the engine off just to order.

 

[Brandon]

It was so loud that when you'd go through drive thru at Mickey D's , you'd have to shut the engine off just to order.

I hated taking orders for the drive thru when I worked at Ritters and a diesel would pull up... They always made the comment they couldn't hear us...

 

[MrsXtremeVel]

I hated taking orders for the drive thru when I worked at Ritters and a diesel would pull up... They always made the comment they couldn't hear us...

What? I can't hear you! Once my brother and I became teenagers, it wasn't cool to drive Stinky anymore. When either one of our cars would break down, we'd use it as back up. Just try pulling into the high school parking lot and everyone stopping and staring at you! I never had to lock it because no one knew how to start it, let alone drive it. To shut it off you had to pull the choke button out.

 

[amboran]

No sense in teaching someone how to use a dying technology if they don't want to. Try to teach your kids how to que up a cassette tape. Why would you do that? Why would you try to force someone to learn how to drive a stick?

This kind of logic disturbs me...Learning how to do something new or different always appealed to my inquisitive nature.All my kids learned early how to drive a stick(3 boys,1 girl) Guess that's why we don't like to always take the easy way out...automatics-let the sheeple keep them.

 

[ludlow]

my kids will learn to drive at stick when they are old enough. I agree it is difficult to find a manual anymore, but I still think it is a good skill to have.

 

[gunowner930]

This kind of logic disturbs me...Learning how to do something new or different always appealed to my inquisitive nature.All my kids learned early how to drive a stick(3 boys,1 girl) Guess that's why we don't like to always take the easy way out...automatics-let the sheeple keep them.

sheeple really ? I find the idea of using a stickshift in an underpowered commuter car during rush hour to be a bit less than appealing.