DEAR SGT AL: BLOWBACK FROM: IS IT WORTH ME LEARNING HOW TO DRIVE A MANUAL TRANSMISSION?

MY DEAR BLOG READERS: I can't believe this, but it seems that I've gotten some blowback from my post re: manual transmissions. Some of you out there seem to disagree if learning to drive a stick makes you a better driver. I forget how people think they are such expert drivers to be insulted when their own skills seem to be indicted. I always try to be modest about myself when I warn people on the road that not everybody is such an exert driver like you (in general). Among the few these were the best. Read on:

DEAR SERGEANT AL: "With a stick you have to pay more attention to your driving and to conditions on the road, which in total makes you more alert, thus a better pilot on the road." Huh? Also you write: " . . .the automatic does not give you the full, complete driving experience, particularly if you are driving a proper sports car or a high performance luxury vehicle." What? C'mon I figured you better than this! Don't you have to see what you're doing while you're shifting? I would have figured that not keeping your eyes on the road while shifting would detract, not enhance the driving experience you take note of here . . . perhaps you're the one that needs a road test refresher?

DEAR SERGEANT AL: I take exception to your comments re: whether it is worth learning to drive a standard stick: DEAR SGT. AL: IS IT WORTH ME LEARNING HOW TO DRIVE A MANUAL TRANSMISSION?. I have been driving for 38 years and I have never received a ticket nor been involved in an accident. I drive and have been driving to the same job for the last 27 years at 200 miles a week. I do not know how to drive a standard transmission, and do not have any reason or desire to. Your assumption that just because a driver knows how to clutch a shifter makes him or her a better driver is flawed. I believe that eliminating the manual shifter makes a driver more attentive to road conditions. SInce you don't have to worry about shifting, you have more important things to worry about, like road hazards and other drivers. Yes, most race car drivers use a stick, but more often you find race drivers using automatic. Automatic transmissions are here to stay, and just because you don't need or want one does not necessarily preclude the fact that you are less a driver with one. --CLUTCH DISUSE ENCOURAGED NOT IN EVERY ROAD

DEAR CLUTCH DENIER: You sweet person, you. This statement obviously tells me a lot about you and your driving, that not only indicates you are a somewhat safe, careful, and mature driver, but you are obviously, innocently, and perhaps dangerously oblivious to what really lurks on the road. Firstly, let me clarify what it was that I stated. Never once did I write that I never needed or wanted an automatic transmission. In fact my current car that I purchased this Spring has one. I stated that automatic transmissions are a great invention and convenience. The point I was trying to make was more about the driver than it was about any kind of transmission. 

Secondly, let me compare (respectfully) your credentials and driving experience compared to mine. As I indicated in that article, I have been driving ever since I was 15 years old, and been driving a manual ever since I was 18. I have a class A CDL drivers license with most endorsements. I also have a tow truck, motorcycle, and chauffeurs endorsement on my license. I have also taken numerous tactical training courses for my police work, including high speed vehicle pursuit and protective dignitary driving. I graduated from one of the toughest police motorcycle schools in the country. I have been in the motorcades for three of the last five Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States and their various cabinet officers, presidential candidates, numerous heads of states and their various ministers, numerous state and local officials, members of the diplomatic corp, senior corporate executives, and even celebrities. In the heyday of my police career I logged anywhere up to 100 miles a day on any given tour on patrol. I've been driving for 32 years total.

Until you learn how to drive a manual transmission DENIER, with all due respect, you will never truly know what you are talking about. The statement that eliminating a shifter makes you more attentive to other things on the road, obviously makes you unaware of the fact that a shifter makes it more difficult to do other things behind the wheel like talk on a cell phone or text and drive. Cupholders in cars are more of an American phenomenon. German manufacturers could never understand (actually I don't think they want to understand) why Americans insist on putting them in their cars. If the Germans only realized how the auto tranny has made Americans lazy in their driving they would then understand why we want cupholders in cars. With a shifter, unless you're highway driving, you have even less opportunity to not only to handheld talk or text, but even to quench your thirst. This is why I say if we Americans all shifted our transmissions manually, we would have much safer roads. Some of us truly cannot walk and chew gum at the same time, and depending on the circumstances, that can be a good thing, not just for the walker, but also for everyone around him. America is so infected with non-drivers, that we are now contemplating not just banning texting and driving, but also texting and walking nationwide. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. Even with an automatic, America seems to have found a way behind the wheel to do other things than driving. Our hands aren't even supposed to be idle behind the wheel, that I often find people doing things like reading, texting, handheld talking, nail polishing, shaving, brewing coffee, skies the limit. I say let's give drivers legally and productively something more to do in a car to keep them out of trouble. Let's put a stick shift in their hands for the safety of us all . . .

I appreciate your sentiment, and rationale DENIER, but respectfully, it is YOUR logic that is actually flawed. I won't cite you, but since you seem so resistant to learn to stick shift (which I suspect you are probably resistant to learn, thus unable to do to failure), I do suggest you spend time with someone who shifts to see how the driving experience is different than what you are used to. Happy driving!