The subject heading should have been changed a while ago.

On Sun, Nov 03, 2024 at 04:35:26PM -0600, o1bigtenor via Dng wrote:
> On Sun, Nov 3, 2024 at 11:55 AM Steve Litt <slitt@???> wrote:

> > BUT, I strongly believe that people should learn to drive on automatic
> > transmissions, and then, once driving is muscle memory, *then* learn to
> > drive a stick.

I learned to drive on a standard transmission. My father gave me my
first driving lesson. Once he taught me about the clutch, he had me
-- as a skill-testing exercise -- stop the car, and then start is moving
in high gear. It took a while, but it worked. But it's not the usual
way to start the car moving.

> Hmmmm - - - - there is NO muscle memory in driving an automatic. It is
> really easy to spot a driver who has only driven an automatic when they're
> in 6 inches of fresh snow - - - - the wheels are spinning wildly and they're
> not going anywhere - - - before too long there are tears. That's where a
> manual transmission would have taught you to start in a higher gear at
> lower rpm with NO spinning and you would be just fine once you're
> going. But people love the all I have to do is step on the gas (lack of)
> thinking. In garbage conditions I need a manual - - - an automatic will
> only make things more difficult!! (Except its almost impossible to find
> a vehicle manufacturer that makes one any more - - - there is that appeal
> to the masses bs you know!)

As my wife learned. She ued to drive an automatic, and was originally
licenced only for an automatic. But when we moved to Quebec the licences
did not distinguish between automatic vs standard transmission.
So when we got a second car it turned out to be a Mazda with a standard.
It took me about half an hour to teach her how to use a clutch.
When winter came she discovered how useful a standard transmission was.
Her work was in a hospital on the top of Mount Royal. She would just
drive straight up without difficulty, passing all the others slipping and
sliding around.

My main fear about that is that one of the others would end up sliding
sideways into her car. Never happened.

-- hendrik