24. The manual versus automatic debate.

Many test applicants show up and undertake the practical driving exam in an automatic vehicle. This is not surprising, as a pass it easier to achieve and, in some states, it is legal to drive automatic and manual vehicles afterwards.

Here are the advantages of learning in a manual vehicle:

You can very easily switch to an automatic car. From an automatic to a manual car is much harder.

Driving a manual car is a life’s skill, you never know when you will need it.

Manual vehicles are still easier and cheaper to buy. Petrol consumption is lower, a flat battery is less of a hassle (car can be push-started) and once mastered, gear changing is very pleasurable.

Learning to perfect the clutch and using gears properly does take time and practice. During this process a learner driver gains many hours of valuable experience in traffic.

The only disadvantage in learning in a manual car, apart from the cost involved, is the tendency to major on the technical aspects of clutch and gears. In an automatic car the focus is on traffic almost right from the start.

There is a place for learning in an automatic vehicle. The elderly and the disabled would find it difficult to manage a manual vehicle. It would deny many of them the freedom a motor car brings. But this category of driver knows their limitations. The dangerous driver is one that is suddenly confronted with a clutch pedal (by necessity perhaps, because someone broke a leg) and is legally allowed to operate clutch and gears without ever having learned how to do it.

Starting in an automatic vehicle with the view of learning the gears later, is not practicable. Events happen so quickly, (see above) and it may take hours longer than you think to master clutch and gears. One or two lessons are usually not enough, sometimes it requires eight, ten or more lessons.

 

The story of John, who didn't know the dangers in automatic

Seventeen-year old John, his girlfriend Lisa and her friend Joanne were on the way home from a birthday party. John had promised the girls that he would not drink any alcohol, because he was driving them home that night. He had kept his promise. It was John’s first time at the wheel with passengers, after having passed his driving test two weeks before with a proud 92 % score.

Late that Saturday night light rain began to fall. The girls were busy chatting about the boys at the party. John didn’t find it difficult on the well lit main road. But soon the rain increased, reducing visibility as Joanne tried to guide him to her house in the suburbs. As Joanne directed John to turn left, she warned him about the steep hill and a bend at the bottom.

John's car was 20 years old, a heavy sedan with automatic transmission. After turning off the main road the heavy mass of steel seemed to gather speed rather rapidly as it descended the hill. It was steeper than John had expected. The girls stopped chatting. John braked hard to compensate for the increase in speed. The bend appeared all of a sudden, which made John brake even harder. Lisa shouted in alarm: 'Slow down John!' It was too late. They entered the bend to fast, the tyres failed to grip the wet road, the car skidded out of control, rolling several times after it hit an embankment.

This accident happened not through drinking or recklessness. Like many crashes it occurred simply through lack of basic knowledge by a responsible driver. In this case John did not know, like many people driving an automatic car, that the lower gears have a specific, important function.

What should John have done?

As soon as he was told that a steep downhill was ahead, he should have shifted the gearlever to L and braked gently all the way down the hill to keep the speed under control.

- - - - - - -

What had gone wrong? Increased pressure on the brakes (downhill) together with a reduction in traction (=grip of tyres on the road) because of the rain, caused the car to run out of control.

Shifting to a lower gear (L or 2, depending on the speed required) before the steep hill would have kept the speed under control by the engine acting as a brake. On a wet road, especially, there is less chance of skidding, because the brakes do not need to be applied as hard. This same principle is vital on any slippery road in a manual or automatic vehicle: Engage a lower gear to descend a steep hill.

Caution: The lower gears, 2 or L, in an automatic car must only be engaged at the appropriate speeds (check the operation manual), otherwise engine damage may occur.

Never ever engage ‘Park’ while the vehicle is still moving.

In cold weather an automatic car may stall. To restart the engine you must first put the gearlever into 'N' or 'P'.

 

Your safety is

DRIVING PLUS

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Disclaimer: Above information is for Australian learner drivers. Regulations could vary in your part of the world. We take no responsibility for any accidents, failed driving tests, even if the advise in this book has been followed. We recommend to use above information in conjunction with a professional driving instructor. 

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