Hey. I consider myself a "skilled" driver, but not a "good / defensive" driver. I don't promote street racing, I just "feel the need for speed". Cops up here don't pull me over, though I pass them a lot going 15-20 MPH over the limit. But that has nothing to do with what I want to talk about.

I am a skilled driver. I can maneuver through lanes of traffic at a fast pace, I can corner perfectly at a high speed of rate, so on so forth. But my LACK of skill is otherwise PAYING ATTENTION to cars in front of me, and BRAKING.

You'd think that looking forward while driving is the #1 priority.. but I find myself looking to my sides, behind me, and looking towards the sky 90% of the time. What is up with that. And due to that behavior, I find myself stomping on the brake ALL THE TIME.

I think it might be due to my brain becoming less active due to the automatic transmission. I have a lot less to think about when driving an auto. I catch myself thinking about what cd's are in my car, how I want a Polar White xB, if I brought my Nintendo DS in the car with me, and even wondering if Mike O'Malley and Moira Quirk ever hit it off after taping an episode of Nickelodeon Guts.

I do not catch myslef thinking about driving at all. I want to become a better driver. I'll even slow down a bit to be a bit more safer. I'd just like some advice. I'm trying to be mature and fix a problem that I have. So I hope your answers can be mature and help me out a bit.

And.. do you think a manual transmission would help me out at all. I'm not talking about speed wise (though it's a duh), but rather in the sense of making me think more about the driving process. Maybe saying to myself "Okay, I have to shift into third now." or "There's a stop sign up there, I better downshift."

What do you think?

Oh, and can you clutch and brake to slow down in any gear, or should you downshift into second always? I was taught in about 15 minutes on a test drive how to drive a stick. So I don't know all the answers that you'll think is child info. Thanks guys.

 

you can brake to slow down in any gear, as long as you're using the brake to slow down (and not engine braking), just make sure to clutch in before your rpms drop too low where the engine stalls (usually just below 1000rpm). thats all that matters.

as for being "skilled" and paying attention, i honestly think thats just up to you, and how much you will or want to pay attention. and at this point, i think getting a manual would probably make it worse, since you'll have just ONE more thing to take your mind off the road.

i guess something i do, and you can try if you dont already, is to look ahead, and look as FAR ahead as you can. i check out everything in front of me, and at times, even anticipate what other drivers are going to do. i actually avoided an accident once because i do that. i slowed down well before, becuase i noticed someone wanting to do something stupid. the guy behind me decided to pass me, and t-boned the guy ahead. in any case, i'll look, 2, 3, or more cars ahead, especially in moderate to heavy traffic, and if their brake lights come on, then i simply let off the gas, and usually (if you've left enough room between you and the car in front of you) you dont even need to brake, the engine slowing you down is enough. so yeah, looking ahead will probably be your #1 help in this case.

always knowing your surroundings may help you also. knowing what cars are around you, and when its safe to change lanes and such, but i think you already do that, since you mentioned maneuvering thru traffic.

hope this helps. but be patient, you're 18, you only get better when you've logged more hours behind the wheel.

 

Find a group and go Auto-xing

 

I find that driving a manual does make me pay more attention to the road in front of me. With an automatic, you press the gas and go. With a stick though, you pretty much have to be one with the car. This will keep you more alert.

 

I know I pay more attention when driving a manual, you're more involved with what's going on. However, it sounds to me like maybe you just need to start taking your Adderall again.

 

Sorry to say, the description you gave sounds like you're an accident waiting to happen. I'm thankful you aren't in my area.

I don't believe a manual car would fix all your problems, but agree it might help, and the auto trans may be a contributing factor in your current behaviour.

I've actually thought about this a lot, being a firm believer that you're more in touch with what the car is doing when it's a manual trans, and that many people turn their brain off (to varying extents) when driving an automatic. Conversely, I recently theorized that an auto should be good for teens just starting to drive, because since there's less for them to worry about with the car, they could pay more attention to driving. I recently gave my 17 year old nephew my old car, an automatic, because of that, but it seems you've blown that theory.

Dude, please don't continue to drive if you're going to look at the sky to the extent you have to break hard or swerve to keep from hitting someone. If you continue to drive as you've described, you'll eventually solve the issue for yourself and the rest of us, but it'll likely be at the unfortunate expense of innocent bystanders in another vehicle.

 

I believe that a manual car will help you better overall to understand your car and become part of it in the road. Once you know the road you know that in a certain curve you can downshift to 3rd and when coming out of the curb it will be better on your fuel economy and also once you get out of the curve. I have been driving around 2 and a half years manual, I since then I have understood my cars so much better. You can either downshift to help when braking and also downshift to help in getting to a certain RPM quicker. I can control my car in every fashion since I can control more freely what it can do. Hope that helps somewhat.

 

If you can't pay attention to the road while you're driving, switching to a manual isn't going to help. Assuming you're a halfway decent driver, shifting a 5-speed becomes almost instinctual in a very short time, and you don't even think about it. Thus, the added "effort" of shifting the car isn't really occupying any of your idle mind, and you will continue to wander until the day you eventually plow into something.
(And for what it's worth, I've been driving manuals since I turned 16- starting with a Toyota Celica, 2 Civics, an RX-7 and finally my tC)

 

hmm it sounds like you have A.D.D. or somthing. you HAVE to be paying attention to the road no matter what transmission your car is. Its really dangerous if you dont. A manual transmission might help you focus more on driving, but only at first. After you get the hang of it, you dont really think about it. You dont say to urself "Ok, time to shift to third, here I go!" It just comes natural to you and you just do it without even thinking. You need to focus on the road no matter what. What if ur going 50mph in 5th gear and ur light turns red, but you dont notice cause ur staring into the sky through ur sunroof -no manual transmission is gonna help you there.