Topic: Feature: The Teen Driving Chronicles, Part 1

[Autos_Editor]

Two of our contributors are teaching their teenagers to drive, and, well, who doesn't love watching a good horror show?

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[canuckystan]

I think learning on a stick shift is very smart - keeps the mind active and one hand off the texting smartphone. 

My kids are a few years away yet.  They'll get driving lessons, but I'm also considering a day at a performance driving school for them.  I think that would build some confidence in how a car performs.

[mixmanmash]

I think learning on a stick shift is very smart - keeps the mind active and one hand off the texting smartphone. 

My kids are a few years away yet.  They'll get driving lessons, but I'm also considering a day at a performance driving school for them.  I think that would build some confidence in how a car performs.

Agreed.  One thing they don't teach well is proper car control and dynamics.  A few of our older car club members bring their 16+ year olds out to our auto cross where they learn a ton about what the car is doing, when to brake, when to accelerate, when to keep it steady, when to turn, etc.

[Solstice2006]

I consider myself a decent driver.  My last speeding ticket was about 5 years ago, but the car had improper tire size installed when I bought it that I wasn´t aware of , so the speedometer was off about 5-8km, according to the radar of the OPP.  Anyway, I try to stay to the right, so people should pass on the left.  And learning on stick is good, learning on a large car without a backup camera is really good.  Learning how to parallel park a large car downtown Toronto can take practice, then once you have a midsize, and have to parallel park on lakeshore in oakville, that´s easy. 

We have it pretty easy in North America when it comes to learning to drive.  Try some of those European cities, I bet a driving instructor couldn´t drive an hour in the downtown area without breaking a law.   

[Snowman]

By the time my daughter is old enough to drive I doubt the manual transmission will even exist. I'm not even sure combustion engines (at least not in some sort of hybrid setup) will be in the majority in 15-16 years.

Crazy.


Get your kicks before the whole $hithouse goes up in flames.

Better get your daughter lessons and not teach her yourself...... After watching you blow a shift with the slush-box floppy paddles last weekend 

[Snowman]

Hey, I'm used to shifting based on sound. Facking TL is too quiet 

Time to put a good exhaust on that thing  Oh wait...know I remember why you punted the WRX...

[Snowman]

...that and "squeaks and rattles"....also known as the interior of the WRX.

Yes and they change with the season 

[Northernridge]

The high school driver's-ed. program in our neck of the woods worked well for both our kids. We hired an independent instructor for some redial lessons for our youngest with good results. I'm all for having a 'professional' teach the kids vs. parents.

I don't see the value of teaching kids to learn on a manual except that they'll know how to drive a manual...and cause us dinosaurs to feel good. What percentage of today's new drivers will ever even see a stick shift? I think it's false that the ability to drive a standard makes anyone a safer/better driver.

The thing that makes me comfortable as a parent is that I believe the youth attitude really has changed about drinking and driving. My kids and their friends accept that drinking and driving is a non-starter...totally different than when I was a kid. Somehow I think the message has (generally) gotten through.

[X-Traction]

A good reason for kids to learn to drive a standard is that they may someday end up on The Amazing Race.

Enjoyable writeup of an important subject.  I'll be facing this in just a few years.  She's very happy our Dodge Spirit died a timely death, since she wasn't looking forward to inheriting it.

"I’m talking about the smaller, simpler things like the fact that you can’t take your learner’s test after about 3:30 p.m. (the lineups get too long) but school doesn’t get out until 3:00 pm, and the licensing centres are only open on school days."

It seems to me as a parent that there are relatively frequent "Pro-d" days when school is not in session, and there are lots of days available during the summer, Christmas break and spring breaks.

When I was a kid in Ontario, a driving instructor suddenly showed up in town and the high school bought into a program that let us take "driver ed".  (The driver ed car was a 1962 Chev Impala convertible with two brake pedals.) I believe it was on school time, and I don't recall having to pay for it.  All my peers used this as an excuse/avenue to get their drivers licenses.  The ensuing carnage was dismaying.  A favourite activity was to get drunk on weekends and race their family cars between destinations such as "the pav" dance hall (near Goderich?) at up to 100mph late at night on narrow gravel country roads.  Within a year or two it seemed like most of the boys had been in serious accidents.  One of the more memorable accidents was the guy who put his parents' Chrysler through a graveyard, tearing the sides off it.

[Solstice2006]

The high school driver's-ed. program in our neck of the woods worked well for both our kids. We hired an independent instructor for some redial lessons for our youngest with good results. I'm all for having a 'professional' teach the kids vs. parents.

I don't see the value of teaching kids to learn on a manual except that they'll know how to drive a manual...and cause us dinosaurs to feel good. What percentage of today's new drivers will ever even see a stick shift? I think it's false that the ability to drive a standard makes anyone a safer/better driver.

The thing that makes me comfortable as a parent is that I believe the youth attitude really has changed about drinking and driving. My kids and their friends accept that drinking and driving is a non-starter...totally different than when I was a kid. Somehow I think the message has (generally) gotten through.

I agree that learning a manual doesn't make you a safer driver.  But it goes with the saying, knowledge is power.  If you have access to the manual, then great, the more cars the kid will be able to drive, and the more places, Europe is still over 50% manual.  If you don't have access to a manual, no biggie.  I also agree with you the drinking and driving has gotten better, not on my radar yet, my child still can't have Coke.  Biggest issue nowadays is driving distractions.  Harder to change the climate control settings on new cars, versus the standard dials.  Sure they look cool, and take up less room, but I prefer the simplicity.  Then there is the voice texting, and bluetooth, just because your not holding your phone, doesn't mean it's not distracting, especially for a new driver...

[quadzilla]

A good reason for kids to learn to drive a standard is that they may someday end up on The Amazing Race.

 

[safristi]

Or they may need to Hi-Jack an 18 wheeler full of cell phones................

[canuckystan]

I think a young driver on a manual is safer.  I see a lot of young drivers in auto trans cars texting and whatnot constantly.  A manual at least forces the driver to be more engaged, especially in city driving.  An auto allows the driver to do too many other things while driving.  Texting and smartphones are the biggest risk for new drivers in my view in terms of distraction.

The high school driver's-ed. program in our neck of the woods worked well for both our kids. We hired an independent instructor for some redial lessons for our youngest with good results. I'm all for having a 'professional' teach the kids vs. parents.

I don't see the value of teaching kids to learn on a manual except that they'll know how to drive a manual...and cause us dinosaurs to feel good. What percentage of today's new drivers will ever even see a stick shift? I think it's false that the ability to drive a standard makes anyone a safer/better driver.

The thing that makes me comfortable as a parent is that I believe the youth attitude really has changed about drinking and driving. My kids and their friends accept that drinking and driving is a non-starter...totally different than when I was a kid. Somehow I think the message has (generally) gotten through.

I agree that learning a manual doesn't make you a safer driver.  But it goes with the saying, knowledge is power.  If you have access to the manual, then great, the more cars the kid will be able to drive, and the more places, Europe is still over 50% manual.  If you don't have access to a manual, no biggie.  I also agree with you the drinking and driving has gotten better, not on my radar yet, my child still can't have Coke.  Biggest issue nowadays is driving distractions.  Harder to change the climate control settings on new cars, versus the standard dials.  Sure they look cool, and take up less room, but I prefer the simplicity.  Then there is the voice texting, and bluetooth, just because your not holding your phone, doesn't mean it's not distracting, especially for a new driver...

[wing]

Manual cars are cheaper (especially used).

Saw a 2010 civic 5-speed manual with only 80k go for 7 grand at auction last weekend.  If that was an auto it would have been double.

[johngenx]

I think knowing how to drive a manual trans is an important skill, but I will not be starting lessons on a manual.  When I learned to drive (swerving to avoid dinosaurs) traffic was light and simple.  Today, my daughter will be learning in a much more congested and complex environment.  I want my daughter to master many more skills before she takes on self-shifting of gears.

The idea that it keeps them from texting is crazy.  If that's your strategy to keep them from driving distracted, you're missing the boat.

[johngenx]

Manual cars are cheaper (especially used).

Saw a 2010 civic 5-speed manual with only 80k go for 7 grand at auction last weekend.  If that was an auto it would have been double.

Yup.  The missus wanted an auto in the Corolla, but I would have bought one anyway.  Manual models, even in econocars are hard to sell and worth way less than AT equipped versions.  Try selling a stick no-AC anything, and you're taking a serious hit.

Does a manual in a Corolla enhance the experience in any way?  No.  Lots of plebian FWD machines out there don't need one anyway.  An FR-S?  Oh, yeah.

[Solstice2006]

Manual cars are cheaper (especially used).

Saw a 2010 civic 5-speed manual with only 80k go for 7 grand at auction last weekend.  If that was an auto it would have been double.

Yup.  The missus wanted an auto in the Corolla, but I would have bought one anyway.  Manual models, even in econocars are hard to sell and worth way less than AT equipped versions.  Try selling a stick no-AC anything, and you're taking a serious hit.

Does a manual in a Corolla enhance the experience in any way?  No.  Lots of plebian FWD machines out there don't need one anyway.  An FR-S?  Oh, yeah.

I wouldn't say a manual in a Corolla enhances the experience, but sure does make the most of that 1.8L engine, would rather have that than the 4 speed auto.  Regardless of resale value, since I drive vehicles for a long time.  There is a significant power loss when going automatic when the car has than 140hp.

[pi314]

Manual cars are cheaper (especially used).

Saw a 2010 civic 5-speed manual with only 80k go for 7 grand at auction last weekend.  If that was an auto it would have been double.

Yup.  The missus wanted an auto in the Corolla, but I would have bought one anyway.  Manual models, even in econocars are hard to sell and worth way less than AT equipped versions.  Try selling a stick no-AC anything, and you're taking a serious hit.

Does a manual in a Corolla enhance the experience in any way?  No.  Lots of plebian FWD machines out there don't need one anyway.  An FR-S?  Oh, yeah.

I'd personally disagree about the lack of enhanced experience - I personally enjoy the feeling of shifting the gears.
If you plan to buy and keep the car for over 10+ years, the difference in resale value is really small and irrelevant. Does a 2003 civic in auto cost significantly more than an stick? No. So I'll buy the manual.

I drove a 2006 Yaris last week in auto. MAN does it hesitate to shift. It drove me nuts. The same car in stickshift was fantastic and peppy when I drove it.

[pi314]

Coming back to the article, I quite enjoyed it.

I personally learned on an automatic - but there was no manual car at home at the time so I had no option.

I was recently teaching my younger brother - It's a nice experience to sit and teach them what you know.
While there were both a manual and auto car available to teach him with, he was started with the automatic car. It makes sense to learn the rules, steering, breaking, and gas first. However, I did give him a brief introduction on how to drive stick in a parking lot - for a scientific learner it helps them appreciate how the transmission works, and how you should modulate your throttle input to prevent downshifting, etc.

I think writing a road test in a manual car is something not worth doing - the guidelines and rules (at least in NB) are such that they don't reflect actual driving practices.

[Black Hatch]

So does anyone teach their sons/daughters to drive AT the speed limit?
You know 50km/h Maximum speed is 50 not 60.

In regards to driving a manual as a beginner.
Suggest you don't.
Not fun for a teenager to risk a "heart attack"? when they stall the car in the middle of a busy intersection (while turing left) during rush hour.

Learn how to drive automatic and the rules of the road and gain experience before teaching them how to drive stick.