Parents Push Teens To Drive Stick to Avoid Distracted Driving
Just when an earlier study suggested that teenagers today prefer owning smartphones and electronic devices over owning a car, a local study by news channel Sacramento News10 revealed that there is a resurgence of manual transmission automobiles for young drivers.
Worried about teen drivers texting and driving, parents have started a trend of purchasing stick shift vehicles for their teens in hopes to keep them focused on the task at hand rather than diverting their attention away from the road. The DMV also provides useful stick shift tips for first time drivers including “don’t panic.” News10 started a discussion via Facebook on the resurgence of manual transmission vehicles and viewers have responded positively. One perk stick shift owners said they enjoyed was the better fuel efficiency their vehicle can achieve.
While manual transmission vehicles have remained popular in Europe and Asia, its market in North America has shrunk to approximately 5.5 percent, a number likely made up of mostly driving enthusiasts. If the appreciation of manual transmission vehicles are rekindled within younger drivers, then not only would more Americans pay attention when they are driving, but perhaps the joy of driving might be rediscovered as well. Show your support and join other drivers in the “hang up and drive” movement here at News10.net.
[Source: News10]
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Driving stick IS NOT preventing distracted driving. It IS distracted driving. It's just that it's a LEGAL form of distracted driving, which makes it difficult to take part in the ILLEGAL form of the distracted driving. If actions as "second nature" as taking a sip of coffee, adjusting the radio, one handing a quick BBM txt to a friend, or talking over the phone or to a passenger are "distracted driving"... then how in the hell am I able to mess around with an 18-speed transmission on a giant tractor-trailer while driving through traffic in a school zone? Nobody cares if little Jimmy was distracted by the type of transmission he's choses to use when he killed a woman at a crosswalk while trying to learn to double-clutch. But the world ends if he took a bite of a donut. I'd argue the donut is far less dangerous than the stick shift. Strange world we live in.