Ask Lemmy

It scared the hell out of me too, but soon it'll be just like walking. When you were first learning to walk, you fell down a lot, and although most of us don't remember it, you were probably reluctant to try again after falling. But you kept trying and it became second nature. Keep practicing and soon you'll be singing along with the radio, eating a burrito and sending texts while merging across 6 lanes of traffic without even thinking about it.

Ok, maybe don't do ALL those things. Just stick with it!

Honestly, I was happy my parents were being cheap and bought me a manual for my first car. It made driving automatics later on so easy and they were right at least a few times. They told me there would be times where I may be stuck if I didn't know how to drive a manual. I ended up driving a few friends home in their manual at a time there were no taxis or ridesharing in our area.

Like everyone said it becomes second nature, even if you're learning automatic... You just have to manage your anxiety. The 3 people through out my life who I know absolutely should not be on the road took multiple physical driving tests on an automatic but are so anxious on the road, they were a danger to others. I'm hoping your description above is just because you're a new driver, experiencing new driver things. I was that scared and not very good either when I started and also was uncertain of myself. I'm happy I stuck with it and it does become second nature if your anxiety is within normal limits. Best wishes on your driving adventures

With that attitude towards cyclists you probably shouldn’t drive because you’d be making the road unsafe for a mode of transportation that is healthier and more space and energy efficient than a car.

How are you shifting? I had the hardest time with how I was “taught” manual until I had another friend correct me. You should be making a smooth transition between the clutch and the accelerator, so think 100/0…75/25…50/50…25/75…0/100. I was originally thinking that i had to be completely off the clutch before applying the accelerator and have to do it with pinpoint accuracy like you said and it was rough every time. After talking to my friend who had been driving manual for years and still does, I got a lot better.

With enough practice, driving becomes second nature to the point that you don't really think about it. This goes triple for manual transmission cars because you have so much control over the behaviour of the vehicle that it almost feels.like.an extension of yourself. The learning curve is a pain but the payoff is worth it.

Think of your favorite video game or hobby, do you have to remember each movement and action? Driving is like that, eventually it's just an extension of your ability to move about.

As with most things, it gets easier with practice. After enough practice, you'll find many of the actions and reactions of driving will become habits you do automatically. Which is one of the reasons it's a good idea to practice good habits now, as practice makes permanent. Take your time, and try to be predictable to other drivers (use your signals, don't make radical maneuvers). And don't let the assholes who think the horn is an "I'm annoyed at you" button get to you. Fuck them and the camel that came on them. Take your time and make sure you are driving your car in a way you can control.

As for learning on a manual, yes that increases the difficulty. Depending on the specific vehicle, it can make it easier or harder. Some clutches will let you get away with murder, others will murder you for being less than perfect. Many years ago, my brother owned a car with a clutch that was just brutal. It would go from "not engaging" to "fully engaged" within the slightest movement. My truck, on the other hand, the clutch was so forgiving, you damn near couldn't stall it. Thankfully, I learned to drive a stick on my truck and when I tried my brother's car, it took a lot less time to get used to it. As above, take your time and it will come to you with practice.

At the risk of sounding negative - if driving a car is too hard for you, maybe you shouldn't. You're going to be piloting a 4000 pound boulder down the road. Would you really be okay killing someone by accident?

We live in an age of Ubers & Lyfts. Taxis have never been cheaper nor more convenient. Being car free is totally possible.

Regardless, I would still encourage you to finish your studies and get your driver's license, if only because it's the one form of ID every adult is expected to have.

being too soft or too rough on the clutch is a matter of millimeters is ridiculous

On this point specifically, don't think of it as millimetres of distance. You act based on how the car responds, not trying to hit a specific distance of pedal movement. You already do the same thing with your other foot - you don't think "I need to press the accelerator down 55 mm", you just press it a bit more or a bit less until the car is going the speed you want it to go at. Same deal with the clutch, there just isn't a dial on the dashboard that tells you where you currently have it.

You're right that driving involves processing a lot of information at once that nobody is particularly familiar with absorbing when they start. It is difficult and dangerous. That's why there are tests and licences. But in much the same way that typing was once completely alien to you and is now something you do with little active thought, you'll get there soon enough with the clutch too. And if you learn it now, you'll never be caught out in a situation when there isn't an automatic option available

Dunno what the laws are like where you live but might be worth doing some lessons with a friend on quieter country roads to get more practice with the clutch if possible.

Your trouble with the clutch and watching the road, that will definitely get easier with practice.

But what always remains stressful is that lots of drivers are insane cunts. As in, they should be in a psychiatry. They'll tailgate you, if you have the audacity to drive the speed limit.

And well, other factors can be at play. I've probably got some flavor of autism, so having everything around me rattle and explode, and needing to constantly pay attention to the road, that stresses me out due to sensory overload. Even after multiple years of practice, I'm more than glad to walk to the shops.

I love manual driving! Sure it didn't go super smooth when I first started, but after 2 years, I don't even realize I'm shifting automatically. But it might be me that I want to have control over my car, rather than it driving for me.

I don't hear anyone hating on manual cars where I live. They may prefer and pay extra to buy an automatic but they don't hate on manual.

Anyway it's all about practice, manual or not.

Driving and shifting becomes second nature. It's not something you think about. It's like walking. You don't think left foot, right foot, left foot... Uh oh was i at left or right?

It gets easier with practice, I don't know about where you live but in Portugal to get your license you can only learn manual and you have to do ~~40~~ 32 hours of driving lessons before the exam. By the end of the lessons it becomes second nature. We practiced a lot starting and parking in steep climbs and even rolling starting the car as if the battery was dead. But this was my experience, it changes from school to school.

Since here the majority of cars are still manual, I believe we should learn them because its much easier to move to automatic than the other way around.

Mate, you have zero experience how to drive but feel the need to tell others what is save and what not?

Can people please shut up talking about topics they know nothing about?!

It definitely gets easier after muscle memory kicks in. Doesn't really make a difference if manual or automatic.

Oh wow, you must learn manual, that's ridiculous! Where in the world is that?

I've not started yet, but I'm going to learn automatic when I go to learn, my GF has been learning manual for over 2 years because her dad and our friend who drives said that it makes the most sense to, when in reality that's just because of what they were told based on outdated advice.

She even has an automatic waiting for her once she finally passes, but she's stubborn and doesn't want to switch to learning automatic, it's really frustrating how stubborn she is about not giving up or approaching it from another direction.

She has dyslexia and the British Dyslexic Association even recommends that dyslexics learn automatic as it's a known thing they struggle with. She even had to write L and R on her hands, bless her.

I've heard some people benefit from intensive driving courses, where you do like 2 solid weeks of lessons then take the test, but no clue if they have those in your country

I've suggested to her, if she really wants a manual licence then get the automatic licence, then decide if she really wants the manual, as she'll be more comfortable with roads and driving and can just focus on the manual aspect

It definitely gets easier in my experience. A lot of the things that take conscious effort right now are going to become reflexes and automatisms with more experience. Right now you are building that experience, and there isn't really a way to speed it up. You just need to do each action dozens and hundreds of times, until you do it without thinking.

Driving a manual car, for example, is definitely more complex than an automatic one. You literally need to manage one more thing. But do not worry about it, you will change gears a lot during your practice sessions and build a lot of experience quickly. In a few months you will probably not think much about gears, and in a few years you will be managing them without giving it a single thought.

Fun anecdote, I recently got a new car and it is an automatic one while I previously only drove manuals. For a few days I couldn't figure out how to start smoothly, and I was very confused... until I realized that starting mostly involved the clutch on my previous car. The first movements of my right foot used to be to keep the rpm under control while disengaging the clutch, which is just not needed on an automatic car. I was simply applying the same muscle memory to the new car without realizing it!

Hard to say without knowing details. How's the traffic in your area, is it a big city or more rural? What country?

You’re right. You should give up driving.

Where do you live that you HAVE to learn manual? Here in Germany you have a choice of either learning manual or automatic. If you learn automatic though you are only allowed to drive automatic cars and if you learn manual you are allowed to drive both.