tl;dr Automatics are in slightly over 90% of cars in the US now.
Quite frankly, this scares the HELL out of me. Automatics should be illegal. I'm very serious, too. They encourage lazier driving, and leave hands free for mobile phones, makeup, eating a huge sandwich, or fondling your sig other. Okay, maybe the last one isn't so bad, but the point remains.
Also, there's also the nagging point in my head that it's (stereo)typical American laziness gone amuck. Karl Benz (a German) invented the car, and the automatic transmission was invented in the United States. So, naturally, we force the industry to cater to automatics since they're easier to use, albeit monstrously complicated machines.
They're also very expensive to repair, much heavier in the car and are inherently less efficient at their jobs. These last two points mean of course, they use more fuel.
So how can we rid ourselves of them? Ideally we would hike insurance rates for automatic cars, thereby discouraging their use. Of course that won't happen, so the best way I see it is to make sure you continue to drive a stickshift, and encourage all you know to do so.
FStick, at 03/01/2010 12:28 PM Reputation Level: 9
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Besides encouranging lazy driving and wasting fuel, they give you less control over your vehicle, and are far less engaging to drive. I wouldn't be surprised to see the insurance industry go in the opposite direction and start adding a surcharge for manual transmissions as they require more attention to driving and in the minds of underwriters leave more room for error.
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agentrnge, at 03/01/2010 1:43 PM Reputation Level: 44
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From the aol article...
“We also find that parents are mainly concerned with the safety of their teen driver and a manual is one more thing to distract them from focusing on driving.”
This is one more instance of 'well since they cant do it right, make it easier for them to do it wrong.' And it is evident that the people are driving around without paying attention to the car or to the road.
Paying attention to the car and to driving is how to avoid distraction. Being completely absorbed with every detail of the driving experience keeps you focused. Another side effect of driving around at the unnecessarily slow speed limits allows your mind to wander, drifting into auto-pilot, lulled half to sleep with boredom. But that's to keep driving safe!
Distraction is when they need to fiddle with 142 different distract-o-tainment devices. God forbid you cant play Grand Theft Auto while watching Need for Speed while updating your facebook indicating your latest twitter status while you drive.
OK off topic, 100% agree there is no way to force people to drive manual. But I know I will continue driving them as long as I can. Thankfully I think there will always be some enthusiast following keeping manuals available in certain cars.
It is harder and harder to find cars with manual transmissions. It seems now it is almost exclusively found in higher end vehicles. And also often the case that even tho they are simpler and cheaper... (show all)
components, they are "premium" add-ons to a car that would have otherwise had an automatic. It took me a lot of years to finally get the car I wanted with a 6 speed. Pure driving joy.
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Duke of URL, at 03/01/2010 1:58 PM Reputation Level: 181
“We also find that parents are mainly concerned with the safety of their teen driver and a manual is one more thing to distract them from focusing on driving.”
So wait... focusing on driving will keep them from focusing on driving??? That has to one of the most numbskullest things I've yet heard!
But you're right, we design vehicles in this country for everything BUT driving. TVs, game systems, 4-zone climate controls, various buttons, doo-dads, storage, and 6 cupholders per occupant.
And it isn't just the vehicles, the laws are arranged for profit under the guise of safety, often at a detriment to safety. When a road's speed limit is so low your attention fades off to what's happening on the roadside, you know you've got problems...
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