Stick vs automatic

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by MadMax

Well, most people in Houston drive like idiots anyway, no matter what kind of transmission they got!

But your correlation makes no sense. It allows for both more and less?!?

Bad drivers in the US have nothing to do with the transmission people have in their cars...

My correlation makes perfect sense. Having an automatic transmission (and especially leaving it in Drive) allows you to dismiss having to 'concentrate on/think about' shifting. What you do with that shift of focus is up to you. Some people might concentrate more on the road/driving/their relation to other cars on the road. On the other hand, other people might feel that it frees them up to text/talk on their cell phone/talk to the person in the passenger seat more intently/eat/drink/shave/put make-up on/read, etc.

If a college student lives with his or her parents and has a SAHM or SAHD with traditional SAH duties, then he or she CAN study more than a student away at college because he or she doesn't have to do laundry/plan and execute meals, etc, but that doesn't mean the student WILL study more (to illustrate my point I'm assuming both examples have the same access to group study).

When it comes to Houston drivers, until earlier this year I probably had my head buried a bit in the sand. People are amazingly courteous in parking lots and on two lane residential streets, but on the freeways, feeder roads, and parkways there are more selfish and dangerous drivers than I used to like to admit. I spent most of the month of April this year all over Florida. I've driven in all of the 'Lower 48' U.S. states and in D.C. (45 of them + D.C. in my Yaris and 30 or so of them before I had my Yaris) and South Florida has the worst drivers in the U.S. on many different levels (IMHO)...far worse than Southern California (and I lived in Southern California for 6 1/2 years). Since returning from that trip to Florida in April, I'm more aware of the bad drivers here in the Houston Metro. I'd love to be able to instantly morph into a LEO whenever I see one of these drivers just to be able to pull them over to see gender and age. I'd bet most of them are male and under age 25.

'Bad drivers in the U.S. have nothing to do with the transmission people have in their cars'....I'd say bad DRIVING has LITTLE to do with the transmission people have in their cars. IMHO if a driver can drive a manual transmission car well, they have the POTENTIAL to become a better driver than someone who can't master a manual...BUT that doesn't mean they WILL DEVELOP that potential skill.

I think bad driving occurs in the U.S. primarily for two reasons: 1. Intent (MANY PEOPLE JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT TRULY BEING GOOD DRIVERS) and 2. Required minimum skill level (it is TOO EASY to get a non commercial DL in the U.S).