Are Manual Transmissions The Answer To Distracted Driving?

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

I’m currently testing the Mazda3 Skyactiv, and even though the automatic transmission is better matched to the car (more on that later) I’d still opt for the excellent 6-speed manual, even though 94.5 percent of consumers feel the opposite way.

That puts me firmly in a single digit minority of customers who choose a stick shift – but a news report out of Sacramento offers an interesting premise – manual transmissions reduce distracted driving.The report shows how one family bought their daughter a manual Honda Civic to cut down on texting while driving. While this is hardly empirical or scientific, it’s a novel approach to a pretty serious problem among teens, and flies in the face of the constant push for smartphone integration in new vehicles.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • TW4 TW4 on Jan 24, 2012

    A manual transmission stops distracted driving, but not b/c it stops people from engaging in other activities. I've never owned an automatic in 13 years of driving so shifting/clutching is completely second nature. I can, no, I have driven while talking on the phone, eating my fast food lunch, and manipulating the steering and gear change controls with my left hand so my right hand could scrawl notes with the pen I wedged between my fingers and my cell phone. I don't crash and I don't harm other people (knock on freakin' wood) b/c driving manual puts you in tune with the car. You can sense what it is doing so the act of driving moves into your subconscious. Your subconscious can pilot the vehicle regardless of what your conscious mind is doing. Can't tell you how many times my right hand has completed a shift, while I continue babbling as if my hand is still holding my cell phone next to my mouth. Subconscious often overrules the conscious distractions. Driving manual also forces you to maintain proper road tolerances b/c shifting takes time in the event of evasive maneuvers. Furthermore, no one wants to shift more than they have to in rush hour stop-and-go so tailgating and mad-dogging are probably less frequent amongst manual drivers. Fewer accidents result.

  • Troyohchatter Troyohchatter on Jan 24, 2012

    I got the sure fired answer to distracted driving. Have the home and garden manufacturers take on the controls of an automobile. Really, you can't do much of anything with a new chain saw, lawn mower, or weed wacker without having to hold three interlocks and disable a safety switch of some sort.

  • Matador Matador on Sep 24, 2013

    If you learn on a manual, I think some of the experience will stay with you. I don't think that it is important for safety that we all own a manual, but as a first car, a manual should be the only option. The first couple of years driving are when you learn the most. I think that only a manual can teach the lessons that are needed for life. When I first started driving, Wyoming winters in a 2-wheel drive F-150 with a 5-Speed taught me a lot.

  • Voxleo Voxleo on Sep 28, 2013

    Automatics always make me seasick unless they're Hondas. The joys of driving stick are many, with few drawbacks such as the dreaded stopp and go rush hour crap. Overall, you will save money in the intial cost as well as MAINTENANCE of the damn thing since there is so much less that can screw up and cost a fortune to fix with a manual tranny. It just won't break as much because there is less TO break. BONUS: if I leave my lights on, I might actually be able to start it by myself if I am on an incline or strong enough to push it fast enough or have enough brawny pals to do that while I pop start it. Once you get on the highway, its pretty much the same thing, but you just feel like you have more control. Plus, when the apocalypse comes,and you are trying to scrounge any working vehicle from the deserted parking lots among the zombies, if the one you do find with the keys in it happens to be a stick shift, YOU WILL know how to drive it. Why anyone would bother to take a driving course to learn to drive and NOT learn to shift is beyond me. What on earth are you even paying for otherwise? Driving stick is just sexier. The fact that only a small portion of the market is interested in it, just shows you who the elite are. People with actual SKILLS drive stick. Anything else doesn't even count as DRIVING any more than one DRIVES a bumper car. If you buy an automatic, you are a weenie. Sports cars aren't sporty if they are AT.

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