The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Clutch pedals make make accidents?

Read this story,it's an opinion I don't believe at all.
Automatics make better drivers?

The article says, another stickshift bites the dust.
[img]http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/editorials/1101237418/images/354yes_20041031_001.jpg[/img]
I say, prove it.

Stupid people shouldn't drive, breed, or vote.

once you drive a stick for awhile it becomes second nature and you don't even have to think about it. i have a manushift on my pt cruiser and it kinda is the best of both worlds. i do love my truck with the shift on the floor plus my mga they are a blast on curvy roads. will agree in big cities they can be a pain and snowy conditions i want an auto. ron

Whoever wrote that article dont know what they are talking about.I drove standards all of my life,til recently.I have had a few auotomatics,they are OK but an experienced driver with a standard has a lot more control over his or her vehicle.I drove 18 wheelers all over the US and Canada,10 and 13 speeds.Retired now and working a part time job.I bought a little Phord Ranger with a 5 speed,drive it all over the county,doing delivery work.It gets 29 to 30 MPG.If I ever buy a bigger pickup it will be a deisel with a 6 speed manual.Both my bolts have automatics,but they are beefed up with shift kits.

For what it's worth... I spent some time working with a missionary in Cochabamba Bolivia. Very hilly area, lots of steep streets and mountain roads. He drives a Ford Supercrew, diesel and stick. He says that automatic transmissions just do not last in that environment.

Yeah, it's really tough to concentrate on driving when I have to use my left foot and right hand at the same time. Boy do I get confused.
Actually, now that I've installed a T5, I do find myself distracted as I just can't help to stare at my beautiful work that I did modifying the bench seat for the shifter.
If he thinks shifting a manual is difficult, I'd like to see that guy try some TIG welding. He'd probably end up with rod sticking into his eye and then write an article to ban the selling of all TIG machines.
That's some inane [censored] right there.
-David
Kustoms-and-Sleds

Obiviuosly the person writing that article has no mechanical ability and no cooridination. As others have said shifting becomes second nature you automaticaly shift without thinking about it. It's neither difficult or dangerous. As for starting on the hill you hold it with the brake and feed the gas as the clutch engages .otherwise you burn the clutch, over rev and wind up with a jerky start.

The person writing that article probably couldn't drive, shift, talk on her cell phone, apply eyeliner, and read a map simultaneously. The shifting threw her "coordination" off and now her "study" deems standards dangerous, somehow. Multi-tasking is a [censored].

More "dumbing down" for the masses. Lets face it. It IS dificult to master. It DOES require greater driver attention. Driving an automatic is easier. It may be more efficient. It requires less training and can be mastered by anyone.
That doesn't make a manual trans. DANGEROUS.
You've gotta laugh when some idiot writes something like this.
It's not who's better, it's what's your preference? No merit badges given to either side.
I'd love to read this authors impression of riding a dirt bike. Control the bike using a combination of shifting, braking, and steering while maintaining a low center of gravity and negotiating your way down a rocky slope.
It probably cant be done. But it is done, everyday by skilled riders.
Maybe what the author is missing is SKILL.

90% of vehicles over here are stick shifts and there are accidents all over the place. Or maybe that's because we drive on the wrong side of the road all the time!!

Andy

I agree, what a crock of crap.I've never owned a vehicle with an auto trans in my whole life.Our daughter were taught to drive on a standard shift as that's what we own,they had no problems at all.Last summer I let my 14 year old grand daughter drive my 45 2 ton Chevy on the back roads,after a short lesson,she had no problem starting off, although shifting the non syncro box was a learning experience, like "we're gonna replace those steel gears with rubber to cut down the clashing of gears"

Don't let the writer see what goes on in the cockpit of a 737.

Might have to break open that little door above a seat and give him oxygen.

Yeah Right On Mugsy! Or how about even cleaning a motor cycle chain!!! darn this Rocket Sceince!
Adios, Kip

Bob Elton, the author of that shiftless article, is obviously one of those people who can't chew gum and walk at the same time. With that lack of coordination, how the heck can he be expected to master the skill of driving, AND SHIFTING, simultaneously? This is simply a matter of if he can't do it, no one else should be allowed to do it either.

I think that his argument is pretty lame.

I agree with all the guy's who have posted on this subject. Literally 100's of millions of people worldwide have driven, and still drive, standard transmissions. It becomes a natural human reaction to do so. True, there are exceptions of those who should never drive anything!

I like Glenn's analogy to the B737! I flew heavy airplanes for nearly 40 years.

Glenn here is a photo of the flight deck of one of the finest airplanes I flew. It has more visibility than anything I know of. It is the Vickers Vanguard. First link is to the cockpit photo the second are some of the specs.

George

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=712113&WxsIERv=Vmlja2VycyBWYW5ndWFyZCA5NTNDIE1lcmNoYW50bWFu&WdsYXMg=SHVudGluZyBDYXJnbyBBaXJsaW5lcw%3D%3D&QtODMg=QnJvb2tsYW5kcyAoRUdMQik%3D&ERD LTkt=VUsgLSBFbmdsYW5k&ktODMp=Tm92ZW1iZXIgMTUsIDIwMDM%3D&BP=0&WNEb25u=VFogQXZpYXRpb24%3D&xsIERvdWdsY=Ry1BUEVQ&MgTUQtODMgKE=V29uZGVyZnVsbHkgbWFpbnRhaW5lZCBmbGlnaHQgZGVjayBvZiB0aGlzLC B0aGUgZmluYWwtYnVpbHQgVmFuZ3VhcmQuIEJ1aWx0IGluIDE5NjEsIHNoZSB3YXMgZGVsaXZlcmVkIHRvIEJFQSBpbiBwYXNzZW5nZXIgY29uZmlnLiBDb252ZXJ0ZWQgaW4gMTk3MSB0byBNZXJjaGFudG1hbiBjYXJnbyBzcGVjLCBzaG Ugd2FzIHJldGlyZWQgaW4gMTk5Ni4gVGhpcyBpcyB0aGUgb25seSBzdXJ2aXZpbmcgVmFuZ3VhcmQgaW4gdGhlIHdvcmxkLg%3D%3D&YXMgTUQtODMgKERD=NTYw&NEb25uZWxs=MjAwNC0xMS0xNQ%3D%3D&ODJ9dvCE=&O89Dcjdg=NzE5 &static=yes&sok=V0hFUkUgIChhaXJjcmFmdF9nZW5lcmljID0gJ1ZpY2tlcnMgVmFuZ3VhcmQnKSAgT1JERVIgQlkgcGhvdG9faWQgREVTQw%3D%3D&photo_nr=6&size=L

http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/V/Vickers-Vanguard.htm

The '54 I had in high school would have also been a challenge for the Pedal Story Peddler. Using everything in that truck was part of the fun of just gettin' there.
I could shift, clutch, gas, pump the windshield washer pump with my foot, wind up the dashboard clock, adjust the vacuum wipers, pull out/push in the throttle, (cruise control), signal oncoming traffic with the dimmer switch on the floor, blow the horn, shield myself from the water spraying up at me from puddles on the pave through the rotted out hole in the kick panel, after having started the engine while at the drive-in with both hands on the steering wheel...and still keep my attention focused on the mission at that time of waving at the girls in town!
My truck and my driving skills earned us the right to pull the homecoming float, (decorated hay wagon, loaded with schoolmates) in the homecoming parade when my truck & I were in the 11th grade! Fun, Fun, Fun!
BTW, C10Limey, some people used to drive on the "wrong side" of the road here, too! I won't name any names but one night in '79 on a moonlit night, coming back from a basketball game....
I'll save that one for later,

tell me , Tell me.

Andy

I find it more dangerous to drive and automatic after driving my trucks all week. You pull up to a stop and instead of coasting, I prepare to downshift. Since it's an auto, the brake is the clutch and since we depress the clutch with quite a bit of speed and force, everybody in the car gets quite a jolt when the tires of the Impala screetch for about a second. If I drove that car in the snow and ice, it would be very dangerous,
Scott

A recent issue of 'Ol Skool Rodz' had a good editorial talking about today's cars making bad drivers. Power everything, CD players, DVD players, automatic transmissions and ABS. The writer figured that while Buffy was driving her Escalade drinking her latte, watching some video and listening to some punk rock group, all the while talking to Biff on her cell phone, there was little chance she was going to see or pay attention to your small Chevy turn signal. Old cars were driven. Gears shifted and without power steering or brakes we planned ahead. We also listened to our vehicles because they were telling us things. I don't have a radio in either of my Stovebolts because I have to pay attention to all the Buffys out there.

Well Andy, here goes...
One night when I was in high school a bunch of us went to a Friday night high school basketball game in another town. Our team, the Pirates, thoroughly trounced the opposing team of another school in another small town twenty or so miles away. Not being on the team we didn't have to ride the bus with the team & coach. We rounded up a few borrowed cars for the little trip.
In our excitement during the ride back to our town two drivers decided to race back to town to get a good spot at the drive-in. Since the borrowed, family autos we were using weren't much on speed and the road wasn't too good, the drivers decided to drive back with each car side by side, one in each lane of the two laned road just for the heck of it. Somebody got the idea that doing that wasn't interesting enough so off went the headlights. That still didn't satisfy everyone so, open went the doors with outstretched legs & feet holding the doors all the way open, so we could, "catch some air", like one genius said. We could see the road pretty well because of the bright moon light until we got to a spot in the road where there's big oak trees on each side of the road with their branches almost touching over the roadway...out went the moonlight, on went the headlights, in came the legs & doors & back & behind went someone's grandmother's Buick from the wrong lane back again behind us in the right lane.
I wasn't one of the drivers, I'm glad to say. That was pretty stupid driving at night with no lights, with two cars, side by side, one in the wrong lane. Dumb! I couldn't believe what these guys had done. All I did was to come up with the idea about, "catchin' some air"!
The hamburgers at the drive-in tasted extra good that night.
Just a few weekends later, I think it was...the sport of running board "Skiing" was invented in our little town.

Plus, you can't push-start 99% of automatics! So there!

Here's a quote from the Land Speed Racing mailing list. I found it to be amazingly relevant to that alleged person's alleged article:

"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the b*lls to live in the real world."

Mary Shafer (ret)
SR-71 Chief Engineer
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA

I would say the 'author' of the article needs to do a little more research. I have known several professional drivers with well over one MILLION accident-free miles. Guess what, 97%+ of all over-the-road trucks have a manual transmission. In fact, these Roadranger transmissions are unsynchronized and unless they are shifted correctly, they will not go into gear. When I drove over-the-road, once I got used to the truck, it didn't seem like I had to even think about what gear I was in--it just happened naturally.

I have read about the new automatically shifted manual trannys for new big trucks. I am a little unsure if I like this idea. I realize truck drivers are becoming harder to find every day and some people are intimidated by a manual transmission with at least 9 gears. I think that may be a good thing because the last thing I want on the road is an 80,000 lb. truck headed toward me on the road being driven by someone who thinks it handles like a car. Call the manual transmission a tool for weeding out the wanna-be's.

Or write magazine articles.

I think the exact opposite is true - with a manual, you are more involved with the vehicle, so you pay better attention (unless you're the idiot woman on her cell phone who difted across lanes in front of me yesterday... :mad: ). I find my attention wandering more when I'm driving an automatic.

Everyone should learn to drive and take their driving test on a manual. If you can't handle a clutch, you don't get a license. After that, if you want to drive an automatic, fine.