Comment by phainopepla2
5 days ago
My main argument for manual transmissions would be that because it requires both hands to be engaged it leaves less availability for the right hand to pick up their phone. The number of people I see holding and staring at their phone while driving down my residential street is shocking.
I also think it just connects you to the act of driving more, which I'm convinced (without evidence, just a hunch) makes you a safer driving
People have been distracted while driving manual transmissions for ages too. I remember my father telling me a story of drinking coffee out of a coffee cup, while smoking a cigarette, and driving his manual transmission in a blizzard.
How distracted a driver is with phones/etc is up to them; enabling them to be safer within their existing usage is only a benefit. Same reason things like the semi-autonomous driving are a net benefit. They substantially reduce the cognitive load of driving, which makes you more able to monitor the higher level driving tasks. The fatigue is noticeable for me, especially on longer drives.
> People have been distracted while driving manual transmissions for ages too
Of course, but it's definitely worse now that people have devices designed to grab attention within arms reach constantly.
> How distracted a driver is with phones/etc is up to them
And many people choose to be quite distracted. I would love it if they had less ability to make that choice when it comes to endangering other people's lives.
In any case, I don't disagree that there are some benefits to semi automated safety features. For some people it's certainly a net benefit. But I think you're underestimating the number of people who use that extra bandwidth to dive into an even deeper distraction hole. The number of people I see scrolling through short form vídeos while going full speed on the highway is shocking
> The number of people I see scrolling through short form vídeos while going full speed on the highway is shocking
Then what would change? Highway driving in a manual is essentially no different than an auto.
The problem is people are choosing to be distracted drivers, not that driving is so easy that they choose distractions as a result.
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