if you couldn’t drive with a manual gearbox, you shouldn’t be issued a license
For people who’ve had a genuine opportunity to learn and couldn’t figure it out then I would kind of support this. If someone can’t figure out a basic coordination exercise then I don’t really trust them to handle the controls of a couple of tons of moving vehicle.
I do realise though that many people don’t have a proper opportunity to learn (no vehicle to do so in or a poor instructor) so most get an exception from this judgement.
I mean, I have tried to learn the manual gearbox, and I would have gotten it given more time, but it took me about a year to learn to drive an automatic, this was while working full time at the same time. So I decided that with the rise of EVs and automatic gearboxes, I didn’t want to spend another half a year learning something that is going away.
I agree with you to a point, if you got the same kind of license taking the test in an automatic car as in a manual car, then I agree that a critical component is missing, but here in Sweden you are limited to only being allowed to drive automatic cars if you took the test in an automatic car.
If I need to, I am absolutely not against learning a manual gearbox and taking a new test later.
Me relying on an automatic gearbox does not make me a worse driver than the average driver.
For people who’ve had a genuine opportunity to learn and couldn’t figure it out then I would kind of support this. If someone can’t figure out a basic coordination exercise then I don’t really trust them to handle the controls of a couple of tons of moving vehicle.
I assume, to maintain consistency of your judgment, you also regularly turn off ABS, traction control, cover up the backup camera screen only turning around and looking out your back window when reversing? An electric starter also is a bit of a luxury too, right? Do you usually push your car forward with your feet and pop the clutch to start the car, or are you a true purist that uses an old school handcrank mated to the engine’s crankshaft? Wouldn’t these all be, matching the theme of your definition, basic coordination exercises that someone must be able to handle to control them to control a couple of tons of moving vehicle?
Well, your gatekeeping is consistent, I’ll grant you that.
You’re welcome to put your own effort into learning useless archaic skills, but I hope you can see why your opinion that other should (as determined by public policy on driving privileges) is in the minority on this. There was absolutely a time when spending time learning these things was necessary. That day has long since passed into history.
For people who’ve had a genuine opportunity to learn and couldn’t figure it out then I would kind of support this. If someone can’t figure out a basic coordination exercise then I don’t really trust them to handle the controls of a couple of tons of moving vehicle.
I do realise though that many people don’t have a proper opportunity to learn (no vehicle to do so in or a poor instructor) so most get an exception from this judgement.
I mean, I have tried to learn the manual gearbox, and I would have gotten it given more time, but it took me about a year to learn to drive an automatic, this was while working full time at the same time. So I decided that with the rise of EVs and automatic gearboxes, I didn’t want to spend another half a year learning something that is going away.
I agree with you to a point, if you got the same kind of license taking the test in an automatic car as in a manual car, then I agree that a critical component is missing, but here in Sweden you are limited to only being allowed to drive automatic cars if you took the test in an automatic car.
If I need to, I am absolutely not against learning a manual gearbox and taking a new test later.
Me relying on an automatic gearbox does not make me a worse driver than the average driver.
I assume, to maintain consistency of your judgment, you also regularly turn off ABS, traction control, cover up the backup camera screen only turning around and looking out your back window when reversing? An electric starter also is a bit of a luxury too, right? Do you usually push your car forward with your feet and pop the clutch to start the car, or are you a true purist that uses an old school handcrank mated to the engine’s crankshaft? Wouldn’t these all be, matching the theme of your definition, basic coordination exercises that someone must be able to handle to control them to control a couple of tons of moving vehicle?
Correct. I would not expect people to know how to do these things but I would expect a competent person to be able to learn them.
Well, your gatekeeping is consistent, I’ll grant you that.
You’re welcome to put your own effort into learning useless archaic skills, but I hope you can see why your opinion that other should (as determined by public policy on driving privileges) is in the minority on this. There was absolutely a time when spending time learning these things was necessary. That day has long since passed into history.