Calif. Parents’ Clever Way to Fight Against Texting and Driving: Get a Stick Shift
- Posted on January 24, 2012 at 1:22pm by
Liz Klimas
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Some parents are making an effort to occupy both hands of their teens while he or she is driving but it’s not by strict enforcement of the 10 and two rule. Some parents are choosing cars with manual transmission — stick shift — instead of automatic.
Sacramento’s News 10 recently reported that more parents are getting their new drivers stick shift vehicles as an added precaution to make sure the teen isn’t texting while operating the car. For one 17 year old, Britt Hurley, learning to drive on manual transmission wasn’t her first choice, but News 10 reports that she soon became comfortable with it.
Watch the report:
The move toward stick shift cars is part of The Great Hangup initiative, which can be found in several states advocating drivers put down their phones in the car.
Here are some of the comments News 10 received on their Facebook post asking for stick shift memories:
Even though stick shift cars compose a small percentage of vehicles in the U.S., according to News 10, they receive better fuel economy and are still popular in Europe and Asia.
[H/T Business Insider]
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Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:10pmMy first car was a sporty little Ford Escort Pony. Four on the floor, man! People back then called them a name for female anatomy that rhymes with Delores, because they were small, red, and every [girl] had one. That thing was a blast to drive. I loved it. I really felt like I was doing something while driving and not just a passenger in a machine I was suggesting where it travelled.
I’m firmly of the opinion that there are a few things in life that people are just meant to do for themselves. Switching gears on a mechanical transmission is one of them.
Report Post »SRPDS
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 9:11amonly works until they get used to driving it. i’m neaerly 24 and i did it all teh time when i had my 6-speed. text, shift with texting hand, phone still in it, resume texting. other hand on the wheel all the time.
Report Post »midnightvelvet
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:28amAnd you’re really proud as you endanger everybody else on the road.
Report Post »midnightvelvet
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 1:16amGee….how wonderful to know so many of you texting and driving idiots are out there.
Report Post »sirocco78
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 12:02amPeople will still text and drive with a stick. They will just steer the car with their knees.
Report Post »BetsyRoss1513
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:13pm….and become an organ donor! :) See? Everyone wins!
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 10:16pmAnyone ever drive a column shift??? I drove a Toyota van with column shift from Misawa Air Base to Tokyo and back..Driving on the left side of the road and drivers side on the right side and you shift with your left hand.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 10:14pmMost the cars I owned were stick shift…Good first car for your kids..Most their friends won’t be able to drive it! I wonder if stick shifts are least likely to be stolen???
Report Post »Macman1138
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:58pmI love driving a stick!
Report Post »Everyone needs to learn to drive one.
My sister taught me how to drive my little Renault LeCar I had bought whilst I was in college in just 15 minutes.
It’s easy.
Conservalibertaral
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:36pmIf you don’t know how to drive a stick…
Report Post »You don’t know how to drive.
jzs
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:57pmI drive a stick and, very occasionally, text, although I know I shouldn’t. You just have to get up to whatever speed, then it’s “look ma, no hands.” I know it’s wrong.
If you ever plan to go anywhere else in the world besides the US?, learn to drive a stick. Best thing going besides.
Report Post »Macman1138
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 10:03pmAmen!
Report Post »I feel like the King of the Road driving a big 6 speed Jeep Rubicon Call of Duty!
DividedWeFail
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:20pmIt is hard to eat and use a stick shift also.
New Obama Rule
Obama’s federal heath care goons can FORCE you to by a government owned stick shift Chysler or GM car (preferable a Volt) if you are FAT.
While you can get away with some eating, sooner or later you will crush that hamburger on your stick and NEVER eat in your car again. .
Report Post »Snidely
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 7:49pmMy daughters’ first car was a manual transmission. I think every kid should drive a stick regardless of whether it limits texting while driving or not. Although, I don’t think a manual transmission would do that. You’re not constantly shifting while driving. Being able to drive a manual transmission is a good life skill to have.
Funny story about my daughter shifting expertise; A friend of hers was working at a car dealership and they wanted him to drive a Corvette from one dealership, across town to their other location. He couldn’t do it because it had a stick. Soon after that, he asked my daughter to teach him how to drive a stick so that wouldn’t happen again.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 7:02pmLove sticks-best ever was a 79 Corvette with a barely legal engine, great memories. Once you learn in a stick, you never forget, and you can drive danged near anything.
Report Post »Jayms
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 6:05pmWow, this is a dumb solution. You’re not shifting constantly. It‘s only when you’re changing gears – other than that split-second moment your hand is free 99.99% of your driving time.
By this logic if you have a stick shift you couldn’t possibly change the radio, or scratch your nose. Dumb.
Report Post »DividedWeFail
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:17pmObviously you don’t live in a heavily populated traffic area with an overboard number of traffic lights.
Report Post »JediKnight
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:28pm@DividedWeFail: Maybe not, but I do. Once you learn how to drive a stick shift, it becomes very easy to drive it without touching the gear shift very often. You can keep the vehicle in 3rd or 4th gear for a very long time. You’re also not going to be in 1st or 2nd long enough to have to worry about those gears. And once you get really proficient, you can keep the car in 1st in stop and go traffic and do all kinds of things :)
I use to eat fast food while driving a stick. Soda in the lap, burger in one hand, gear shift in the other. It really isn’t that hard to do.
I think the point is, this is a bad solution to a big problem. If the vehicle is moving, you should not be texting or doing anything with your phone (beyond maybe changing the volume if you listen to something like Pandora). If you’re stopped, do all the texting and web surfing you want. Once that vehicle starts moving again, put the phone down. I don’t even like putting my phone on speaker anymore because it means taking my eyes off the road.
Report Post »wheeler44
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 5:32pmBrilliant!!!!!!!! A fantastic way to keep their children’s little paws off the ever present and ever beckoning electronic communication. They, and many adults, have no self control.
Report Post »takeOout
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 7:34pmKids and Adults (especially women in minivans) need to be taught how to drive properly. It is too easy to get a drivers license in the USA.
Report Post »slvrserfr
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 5:05pmText messaging while shifting the 6 speed manual daily driver I have isn’t hard, although it may be for novice drivers as I’ve been driving for well over a decade.
Report Post »DD313
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 4:39pmHave always driven stick shift vehicles. Learning was hard, especially mastering the urban intersection from hell. Had to stop for a red light on a steep uphill grade, then take off without stalling out or drifting back into the car behind. The good things about a stick are that it gives you something to do with your left foot, and it keeps you alert. It is also the best theft deterrent ever. Most dirtbags can’t drive one!
Report Post »DividedWeFail
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:26pmHad to stop for a red light on a steep uphill grade, then take off without stalling out or drifting back into the car behind.
___________
AHHH Nightmare memory returns. I had the SAME EXPERIENCE. But a bit worse.
I was voluntold to drive a bunch of American girl scouts to some big meeting they had in London There were two buses 1 stick and the other automatic. I made the mistake of saying I could drive stick. The bus had the wheel on the wrong side and I had to drive on the wrong side of the road while parked on an incline with a red light at the top of the hill. I was afraid I would roll back the bus when the light turned and crush the mass of cars behind me. Driving in London is terrible anyway, but a bus – never again.
Report Post »JediKnight
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 8:32pmI always got into the habit of gunning the gas and letting the clutch out just quickly enough to make the car jump just a little if I was on a steep enough grade (without stalling). Or I’d take my foot off the brake entirely, give it gas, and just let the clutch out far enough where the car wouldn’t move forward or backward. Worked like a charm every time, but it is fairly difficult to master. Of course, having the same car for well over 10 years makes it a lot easier than doing it in a car you don’t know.
Of course, rocking the car is fun too :)
Report Post »MittensKittens
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 4:10pmgran gran won’t let me drive.
Report Post »cajunmojo
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 4:04pmHow about this little tad bit of advice , tell your kids not to text and drive. Geeze people grow a couple. My son and I have had the conversation about the dangers of texting and driving. No text “or phone call for that matter” is worth getting into an accident over. He is 19 and knows it is my vehicle and I pay the phone bill. I have taken the time and have raised him to except the responsibilities of his actions.
Report Post »wlc74
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 4:32pmOh yeah, because we all know that when you aren’t there, kids make the right decisions everytime…JEEZ. That is like not having birth control for your daughter because she isn’t sexually active yet…only takes once.
Talk to them, explain and use any preventive measure possible. I have been known to stalk my daughter. That is my job; to know what she is doing, where she is doing and who she is doing it with. She drives a stick and athough I don’t think that 100% prevents text/drive…sure makes it difficult though!
Report Post »SychinLegacy
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 4:04pmBut then how will the government use it as an excuse to expand the police state?!?!?!
Report Post »CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 3:40pmuhhh, I‘ve been driving stick for 8 years now and it really didn’t take me long to learn how to drive with a knee and still be able to eat and text at the same time…not saying I do that, but this isn’t about me…these youngsters will find a way around it
Report Post »cvs334
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 3:59pmHeck with the stick …I can text and drive with mine. But I have never been able to do this on my motorcycle … so there you have the solution, EVERYONE on two wheels!! Out law the cages;-)
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 3:35pmwow, we were just looking at an old F250 last week, it had the stick. maybe we should go back for it given the coming civil war type life we can expect.
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