Back in the day, in my EU country, everybody drove shift gear. Automatic gear was frowned upon. Nowadays everybody drives automatic. People like ‘boring’ comfort, it shows everywhere.
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The Manual Gearbox Preservation Society (https://tmgps.org/) is a notable counterexample.
I look forward to teaching my kids to drive stick. Stick makes driving more engaging then automatic's point-and-go. Engagement breeds attentivity. Texting while driving stick is obviously decreased because both hands are actively required to drive. None of their friends will be able to drive my manual car. I don't know why anyone would hand their kid the keys to an automatic given its downsides.
I had no trouble managing my mug of coffee while driving stick. (Before cupholders were universal, and before texting).
It required some deft coordination to get out of the parking spot and getting up to speed, but I spent most of my time in fifth gear and staying there. One hand is just as free as it is in an automatic.
Texting while driving remains a bad idea, but I don't think a stick shift would prevent it. I could have managed to text just as well as I managed drinking coffee.
Which hand dominant are you? My guess is you're a lefty so being offhanded with coffee in the right, which you don't have to look at, is no biggie.
Righties tend to fiddle (not shift) with the shifter or have the right hand on the wheel most of the time. Texting offhanded with the left is miserable.
The truly dedicated can drive one-kneed, heel-toe, drink coffee, and text simultaneously. But manual definitely makes texting more obviously stupid by requiring intermittent use of the second hand.
I am a righty, and yeah, I mostly held my coffee in my left hand. Texting instead would be very hard. I could probably do it once I'm on the highway (though not while drinking coffee).
I bet a teenager would at least give it the old high school try.
What downsides for the _average_ driver (who just wants to go from A to B comfortably and safely) does an automatic have? Back when I still drove a non-electric vehicle, I really appreciated an automatic giving me one less thing to think about (which means a little bit more attention to the things that matter like safety).
> What downsides for the _average_ driver (who just wants to go from A to B comfortably and safely) does an automatic have?
No downside really.
But as an analogy closer to HN, is there any advantage to knowing about software and operating systems and networking if all you're going to do is watch netflix on a walled-garden phone?
Same answer, no advantage really.
But knowledge is rewarding, understanding systems is fun.
> I look forward to teaching my kids to drive stick.
Same here, in only a few years!
There might be no long term use for it (but near future use certainly, since all our regular cars are standard, only the truck and EV are not) but having another skillset is always good. And it makes driving so much more engaging.
Ferarri is going to retrofit some of their cars with fake manuals (completely electronic emulation). Car reviewers soiling their pants over it was hilarious, especially so after the Luce backlash lol.
Likely your kids cars will drive themselves?