The other difference regarding the UK is that if you learn only an
automatic, and take your driving test in an automatic, that is all you are
licenced to drive. You have to take the driving test in a manual car to be
allowed to drive one. Manual-tested drivers are licenced, though, to drive
automatics.
So pretty much everyone learns to drive a manual car.
Automatic cars are much more common today in the UK. Not as dominant as here
in the US, but not as rare as they once were. I think they were rare
because, as (almost) everyone learned manual driving and automatic-equipped
cars were premium-priced compared to the manual variant; no-one feared
driving with 3 pedals, so why pay more? Also, manuals could deliver better
fuel mileage - a most important consideration given the UK fuel taxes. There
was always a sense too, of manual driving being 'real' driving.
I remember my first company car was an automatic. The first non-manual I had
driven, I was 23 years old. I had to tuck my left foot under the seat to
stop it reaching out for a clutch.
Brian
On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 1:06 PM, Randall <tr3driver@ca.rr.com> wrote:
> > I found that
> > those who had
> > started off on automatics, and had no mechanical knowledge,
> > just could never be
> > as competent as those who started off on a manual.
>
> But perhaps that is effect rather than cause? IOW those who had trouble
> with the kind of coordination required to drive a stick were more likely to
> seek out automatics in the first place?
>
> I suspect this might be more common in the UK, where manuals are the
> default
> configuration and it takes some effort to wind up in an automatic. Here in
> the US the situation is reversed, automatics have been the default
> configuration for many decades. My Buick, for example, was simply not
> available with a manual; and I had to special-order my Chevy through
> Detroit
> to get a manual transmission.
>
> Randall
>
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