I wouldn't mine learning how to drive stick. My dad used to known but never taught us.
You pretty much have to here. That's why I had to take lessons to get my license here. I never learned stick, but automatics are few and far between here. They are getting more popular, but there still aren't many. Here, if you take your driving test with a manual, you can drive either, but if you take it on an automatic, you can only drive automatic, which means you'll have a problem because almost no one has an automatic. I was talking to the examinor when I did my test the 2nd time and she said she actually drives an automatic now and she doesn't know why they aren't more prominent, because they are so much easier and it makes it safer because you don't have to focus on both the road AND what you're doing. I said I had heard that manuals were more energy efficient, and she said that MAY be, but only IF the driver shifts at the exact right time every time and is perfect with braking, shifting, etc. And that's not possible. There's probably not much difference between the two just because of human error. I personally hate driving stick...I feel like my mind is so divided and I have to pay too much attention to what I'm doing....plus, I have to take a hand off the wheel to shift, and when I'm turning, I need that hand to steer. I feel like I don't have enough hands. Blinker, gear shift, steering wheel....plus I have to keep an eye out for idiots who run the light, and be ready to push in the clutch if I have to slam on my brakes. In an automatic, it's so much safer....just hit the brakes, done. It's reflex. And I've never once killed the engine at a stoplight in an automatic. We got our new car a month ago, and it's easier than our old one. In our old one, I killed the engine about half the time because you had to give it a lot more gas while you let the clutch up. I stalled it 3 times at one light one of the first times I drove it to work once I got my license. I just couldn't get it to go. It was so embarassing and it created a really unsafe driving situation because the people in back of me were really frustrated. There had been an accident and they had the lane blocked just before the light, so I had to go around that and immediately stop at the light. Traffic was already backed up and such because of that accident, and then I couldn't get my car to move. The light wouldn't stay green long enough for me to get it going, so I'd stall it, and then before I got it started, it would turn red again, so I'd have to wait. Then it turned green and I'd try again, and stall it and it would turn red again. It was awful. Believe me, it's so much more trouble than it's worth. If I'd been in an automatic, none of that would have ever happened. Manual requires so much more coordination and multitasking ability. It's a necessary skill here because of the lack of automatics, but if I didn't have to do it, I wouldn't bother. I'm thinking our next car should be an automatic if we get one. Now that I'm driving every day, I don't want to have to deal with a stupid stick!
