Motors Why do Americans predominantly drive Automatics?

You're right. There are a lot of horrible drivers over here (well, where I live), and probably due to the requirements for getting a license. I didn't have to do a whole lot to get mine and that was 10yrs ago.

It would be nice if they taught on a manual. It would lower the agressiveness of teenage boys since they can't master it right off the bat. It would probably teach more awareness as well. When I learned a stick I was more aware of what was going on in all directions.

 

the driving tests in Illinois and Massachusetts are a joke, and i would imagine that the rest of the country is like that as well.

Literally:
-leave car park
-drive around the block
-pull to the side of the road or an alley
-reverse a bit without hitting something
-return to test centre

15mins max

I think its just that most people learn to drive in an auto, they are nice to drive sometimes, for when youre feeling lazy

 

I think it's harder now, but when I took it, it was a joke.

Though you learn pretty quick. I'd venture to say a good driver in MA, is probably on average better than most places as they have to deal with a disproportionate amount of idiots and weather.

 

You'd think so, but in Dallas everyone is an idiot on the road. Worst place I've ever driven. Houston was even better.

 

Much bigger distances, alot more traffic cops. Lazy americans.

Just what I think is the reason.
L

 

I did the IL one in 2000 and come to think of it, I never actually did the practical test in MA, just the road rules one since I already had an IL license

I'd say its easier to be a good driver in the states, at least where i've driven (chicago, boston and southern florida). Roads are wide and traffic systems make sense (for the most part).

Nottingham is a nightmare to drive around, especially now that theyve "improved" the traffic system (ie, theres less traffic because theyve made a whole bunch of roads bus/taxi only and made everything else one-way).

 

Guess ,you never visited the North End, South End, etc. For the most part, it's not that bad layout wise (more a people problem, truly is astonoshing how many rude idiots are on the road), but some areas, the streets are pretty much the same as when they horses. The North End is particularly bad in that regard.

Where I took my road test (~89-90), the place I went to couldn't actually make the license so you had to go to another location after you passed the test.

What was the confirmation that you had passed? They stamped your learner's permit with the "Chicken Hawk" from Foghorn Leghorn

 

People over here just aren't taught manuals, or, tbh, much driving. About a year ago I had to do this 'Driving School' thing in order to get a driving permit. It was the dumbest thing ever. They pretty much taught you how to steer, in an old-lady fashion. Then they taught you how to do 'manuvering'. Driving in reverse in a straight line. Parking in a parking space, which is a skill that should be drilled into people because I've seen some atrocious attempts at parking in a space, I think that 'one space per car' thing goes over some peoples' heads. They showed you how to do it, for about 5 minutes, in an empty parking lot! How the hell are you supposed to learn how to not hit anything if there's nothing to hit? Then they do parallel parking. It's a good thing to know, but in the suburbs it's used occasionally at best, and it's at least 2/3 of what you need to do in order to get a lisence. The cars they teach you on are pathetic. Little domestic 4-bangers with FWD and autos. I mean, what the hell? my 93 year old great graandmother could drive one of them with ease. TBH, they should teach you how to drive in huge station wagons with manuals and worn clutches, not to mention RWD and bad tires for lots of fishtailing. Even if you want to learn on a manual, most of the places only have automatics.

Don't even get me started middle-aged soccer mom driving. Where they are so lazy and stupid that they can't even open the doors themselves. It's ********. They sit in their toasty kitchen, hit a button on a remote to start it, another to unlock it, let it warm up for a little, then go out. They hit another button and the doors open automatically. They get in, adjust the seat and the wheel so that they're not only sitting upright, but actually leaning over the dashboard. Then the lights go on automatically, the door closes by itself, and they put it in drive and ignore it. That's not how it should be.

 

I 100% prefer a manual over an auto.

Let me tell a little story about how an auto costed me $450 more than I paid for the car. I had a 1989 F.ound O.n R.oad D.ead tempo, I paid 150 for it and it ran ok. I liscenced it and within hours of putting the plates on it the auto in it died. 300 later it worked agian. Put less than 5000 miles on it ant the trans went agian, sold it after fixing another prob and was glad to get rid of it. Everytime I see a black tempo to this day Im afraid they are trying to give it back.

I learned a lesson and bought somthing with a manual, I wanted a manual all along but the beater happened to be more convient, I got a GMC now with a small v6 and a manual. Even though it is a truck it is still more fun to drive than a auto. When I was looking for a new vehicle it was hard to find one with a manual and not an auto.

For those who say amercian roads are straight, your not far off. When Im on my motorcycle its hard to find a twisty road to have some fun on.

 

Even the emoticon has them both pointing in the same direction.

I'd sum it up as most americans are either lazy, stupid, or both. As one, I think I can make that stereotype

Hamish - you're dead on with driving tests in the states. It's seriously "don't speed or run red lights or stop signs for ten minutes". And technically, at least in VT, you can go up to 5mph over before failing! You only need six hours total behind-the-wheel experience as part of a class in order to get a Jr operators license. One of my friends took his drivers test starting in second gear... while it's definately doable, it seems like something that should be frowned upon. Just goes to show 'ya...

I certainly intend to get one when I get my own car, but both of my parents are lazy and/or stupid. My dad just bought a new car (300mi commute a week per direction @ 14MPG isn't too nice on the credit card) and I almost had him convinced, but he said he wouldn't because he can't drink his coffee and shift at the same time. Considering how little of his driving is in heavy traffic where you need to shift semi-frequently, it shouldn't have been an issue, especially seeing that driving should be a higher priority than coffee.

And, of course, my mom just can't drive stick. I've had about 2hrs experience with a stick and can get by, but I've been so bored driving to the point of changing the gears in the auto just so I have something to do... Of course once I got to about 35mph (at a normal traffic acceleration, not some racing pedal-slammage) before remembering it was still in first (definately proving my dad wrong, who thinks that setting the gears in an auto doesn't actually affect the actual gear), but that's what happens when you're not consistant about that kinda thing.

Most of my friends drive stick, but then again where I live, it's nice to be able to downshift when the roads are utter crap. But, yeah, I'd put it down to laziness and/or idiocy.

 

Manual all the way baby

Lucky for me my dad understands the importance of being able to drive stick and thats what he learned on, so guess what I learned on Both of my parents can drive stick, but my dad loves them (use to be big into sports cars) so most of our cars are manual. Autos are sooo boring, I was going out of my mind during my driving "test" (drive around town, park here, park there, do some turns, do some more turns, reverse, bla bla bla).

QFT

What really pisses me off is when people park on the end of a line of parking stalls and make their own space in the road, as if they couldn't park 50 feet further than from where they are and just walk! No wonder we have an obesity problem.

 

as a british-american hybrid, I can not only concur but add that in fact, most people over here are lazy, stupid or both

 

You should come over here to Seattle/Washington State... We've got all kinds of roads up through the Cascade Mountains (prettiest mountains I've ever seen) that twist and wind and do all kinds of fun stuff. Great fun, especially on a bike.

As for the automatic/manual debate, for my commuter car, I'd rather have an automatic. I do a lot of stop/go traffic, sometimes it'll go from 30-40 MPH (50-70 KPH) to 0 and back multiple times in the same mile. I'd rather have a car that does all the shifting for me, so I can keep my attention on the road, and the crazy drivers out there. (I drive a little tiny Toyota 4-banger, it's rediculously easy to overlook.)

However, I also ride a motorcycle, and having it be manual is half the fun. I wouldn't want to commute on it, but it's a great cruising bike.

 

Haha seriously I don't know what's happening in the UK I remember the last time I went to Notts (since we have a house there) they were resurfacing or changing the ring road to add more "traffic calming" features...

There are now more bus-lanes than ever seriously they might aswell just remove all the roads and just say cars are illegal...

 

There was a period of a few weeks during all the road works that it was impossible to get to my flat without driving through a bus-only zone

cant get anywhere in the city easily via car now, traffic calming = road rage

 

Trust me, you have it easy.

We have bends every few metres down the road, and we have ROUNDABOUTS. You don't get many of these in the US - in my entire 3 weeks of travelling in the US 3 years ago, I only saw one roundabout (Tampa, Florida). Roundabouts (including mini ones) require a lot of gear changing. We have a heck of a lot of traffic lights too, even trafffic lights for pedestrians to cross the road. We have ridiculous traffic calming schemes, including putting islands in the middle of the road, ramps and for some reason, actually making the road narrower, so two lorries would struggle to pass each other. Our motorways have idiots (and police) who all slow down the motorway.

All these above cause plenty of variable speed, and a lot of gear changing. I think we have it hard!

For example, my village, 5 years ago. Lovely straight wide high street, about 2 miles in length, only a single traffic light in the centre for people to cross the road.

Now, there are 3 mini roundabouts, at least 12 traffic islands, the road made about 1.5m narrower (and even narrower in places where the village welcome sign overhangs). If a bus stops at a stop, traffic comes to a standstill, you have constant gear changing at the three mini roundabouts (which are within 100m of each other) and stupid variable speeds, not to mention cars slowing to 10mph in the centre and squeezing past, trying to avoid hitting any parked cars (and peacocks), it's so ridiculous it pisses me off to see a nice straight road turn into mayhem...

 

Yay stereotypes!

Here's an American that prefer's a manual. You can get better response from a Stage II clutch than you'll ever get from any auto tranny with line pressure increases!

 

learn to drive in london, you get excellent clutch control and can shift gears like a ninja

 

Now, you see, if you gave that same car to the germans it would come out with 500hp, and if you gave it to the italians you'd want to have sex with it.

/OT.

Urgh, driving in London. Talk about overuse of the steering wheel, break and first gear.

 

I haven't tried a manual, although I have to say, I've never had the opportunity.

I'm seeing a lot of downright rude and naive "Americans are lazy" blah blah blah reasoning. While there ARE a lot of lazy people here, and a lot of stupid people, cars are not designed around that factor. If you honestly believe that most American cars have automatic transmissions to cater to the lazy and the stupid, that says a LOT about your reasoning abilities and your intelligence. If you think I'm being rude now, good, I don't like being stereotyped - it's very insulting.

Anyways, back to the reasoning... I drive mostly in NYC, in a city built around my grad school, and the 4 hours of roadway between the two locations. Honestly, I thing I'd go nuts with a manual. On the road between my apartment and my permanent address, there are many curves, some upgrades, several exits that I have to take, some curves you have to slow way down for, and a couple of patches of straight long roadway. Then again, in NYC, there's so much stop and go at points that it's ridiculous. Now there are a lot of good drivers out there but a good portion of really bad ones. Those are the lazy stupid ppl that you Europeans like to sterotype us all as. They're the kind of people that stop suddenly, signal left and turn right, double park in a 1-lane road, move forward when it's red, stay still picking their nose when it turns green, and go 15 miles and hour in a 30mph zone and 70 in a 45mph zone. In cities, there are a lot more ppl so you get a lot more of the idiot drivers. With so many things to keep track of (not to mention some pedestrians who like to walk whenever and wherever they like), eliminating one thing to keep track of actually improves safety.

As for the driver's license roadtest, a LOT of people fail the first time and a lot of people need multiple exams to pass. In NYC, you drive in the street with the examiner instructing you on the fly. You have to change lanes, make some turns, go through a few stop signs, make a k-turn, and parallel park.

Ah yes... I forgot to mention... getting onto the highway. In Brooklyn, the on-raps are REALLY short. Often the roadway is congested and moving fast so the only way to get on is to check your lane and floor it at the first appropriate opportunity. In some places, the onramp is maybe 4 car-lengths long (on average, with some being longer and some absurdly short). When you have to be concerned with such high volumes of high speed vehicles, adding another thing to adjust adds to the risk.

Don't worry... for all of you that still believe wholeheartedly in the "ALL Americans are lazy and stupid drivers so they use auto. trans." stereotype, I invite you to drive around where I usually drive. You'll go home and say OMG STUEY's right!!

(By the way, I may have been a bit harsh in arguing against the Americans are lazy and stupid drivers mentality, but I feel insulted by it and threw my words down in hopes you guys gain more perspective and reconsider your mentalities. I also understand some of you said it tongue in cheek so I apologize if my offensive defense offends you).