Note the distance between the dotted lines. It doubles as a landing strip for small aircraft. It’s also good for keeping a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. science!!!
Well golly-damnit. I just checked. My current Hyundai Sonata also has shift paddles on the steering wheel. I've had the car for 15 months and never noticed them.
Well golly-damnit. I just checked. My current Hyundai Sonata also has shift paddles on the steering wheel. I've had the car for 15 months and never noticed them
Does anyone really use shift paddles? Sort of like putting a fake steering wheel on the passenger side for your kids to think he/she is driving.
We are still driving our silver stick shift 1992 Volvo 240 wagon around Maplewood! Great car. It has never stranded us anywhere. A couple times a year, people ask if we're interested in selling it. Both kids learned to drive on it, which I thought was impressive considering the hills around here, and the skill needed to "inch up" to corners to see around hedges, etc at intersections.
Annoyingly, the NJ DMV does not allow you to take the driving test in a car with a stick shift. So, after the kids could drive the Volvo, we got them some lessons with one of the driving schools so they could use that car to pass the road test. (They found driving an automatic "easy" and "boring.") My daughter, now in college in the heartland, says being able to drive a stick gives her some cred with kids from farm backgrounds who learned to drive on old trucks and tractors.
I do think a stick shift is probably an anti theft device. Once at a wedding we left the Volvo with a parking valet who assured us he could drive it. When we went to retrieve our car after the event, it took forever to appear. When it finally arrived, we found a note on the dashboard "Car has no reverse." (Of course it does!) Guess the valet had to empty the lot before he could extricate our car by only driving forward!
We do plan to get an EV as soon as we are no longer paying college tuition. The family IS very attached to the Volvo, though. Husband is kinda interested in what it would take to turn it into an electric vehicle (?!)
I’m stunned to learn that you can no longer go for your test in a manual car. That’s almost tragic!
And I realised while driving this morning (first time since this thread started) that I’m ambi-footed - I actually use whichever foot is most convenient/less cramped for braking. I think it’s meant to be my right foot, tho, ml1; you are right
I’m stunned to learn that you can no longer go for your test in a manual car. That’s almost tragic!
And I realised while driving this morning (first time since this thread started) that I’m ambi-footed - I actually use whichever foot is most convenient/less cramped for braking. I think it’s meant to be my right foot, tho, ml1; you are right
we were instructed in no certain terms in driver's ed to NEVER use a different foot for brake and accelerator. The theory is that if you teach your brain that the right foot is for both the brake and accelerator, you'll lessen the chances of mistakenly pressing the accelerator instead of the brake. You will have taught yourself that the foot always comes off the accelerator to brake.
Driver's ed..."Keep your hands on 10 O'clock and 2 O'clock positions. That makes the "hand over hand," emergency steering easier to accomplish.
Now its 8 and 4. That is because in case of airbag deployment, with 10 an 2, you are gone to get one or both of your fists in your face.
Or --
In summer, I see cars on highways and passengers with their feet on the dashboard. I recall reading where deployed airbags pushed passenger's knee into their chest with force to break bones.
Driver's ed..."Keep your hands on 10 O'clock and 2 O'clock positions. That makes the "hand over hand," emergency steering easier to accomplish.
Now its 8 and 4. That is because in case of airbag deployment, with 10 an 2, you are gone to get one or both of your fists in your face.
I learned about the 8 and 4 position from some long-distance truck drivers: if you're on a long drive and you happen to doze off, your hand will drop off the steering wheel and you'll wake up - enough to know to pull over for a rest break. If your hands are on the top of the wheel (the 10 and 2 o'clock positions) chances are you won't wake up...
In summer, I see cars on highways and passengers with their feet on the dashboard. I recall reading where deployed airbags pushed passenger's knee into their chest with force to break bones.
There are some horrific stories you can find online. Passengers with severe injuries to the feet, legs, pelvis, etc. because the airbags deployed when their feet were up on the dash.
we were instructed in no certain terms in driver's ed to NEVER use a different foot for brake and accelerator. The theory is that if you teach your brain that the right foot is for both the brake and accelerator, you'll lessen the chances of mistakenly pressing the accelerator instead of the brake. You will have taught yourself that the foot always comes off the accelerator to brake.
Since I learned to drive with a stick shift car (3 on the tree, actually), I never had any trouble remembering to use my right foot for both brake and accelerator.
I’m stunned to learn that you can no longer go for your test in a manual car. That’s almost tragic!
I'm not sure when that went into effect but I was happy to pay a few $$$ extra for the driving school to handle the whole DMV rigamarole for each of my daughter's driving tests. (Here in NJ, there is a requirement for teen drivers to have six hours of professional driving instruction before they can even take possession of their permit, so we were already connected with a driving school.)
When I took my driving test (in Texas in the 1970s), I drove my parents' Chevy sedan that had "3 on the tree" even though most people were driving automatics in those days. The examiner was apparently impressed because I passed despite some points deductions for wide turns that should have caused me to fail.
Here in Queensland I believe you need close to 100 hrs on the road in your learners log, and needs to signed by a registered teacher, not just family and friends. I’m going on memory here, but I’m fairly sure that’s what both my nephew (last year) and niece (his older sister) told me. Ah! I see that trainer hours are counted as x3 for the first few, so that helps!
Don’t forget your Outback explorations - hard-to-find loos, and hard-to-find servos if you break down or run out of fuel…
I figure if I was in the outback, needing a loo - well there's always quite a few BIG loos. I find them behind trees or behind billboards. They don't have t.p. or running water, though.
It's okay for a bloke. A bit harder for a woman.
It also depends where you are. Across the Nullarbor, there are no trees of any decent size to hide behind.
There are, however, fuel and rest stops every 100 kilometres (60 miles approx) in the remote areas.
This is the 100 kilometre (60 mile approx) dead straight section of the Eyre Highway crossing the Nullarbor, in South Australia. And yes, they are runway end markings painted on the road surface. This is so the Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft can land to pick up patients in need of rescue.
60 miles of straight road. Similar to Autobahn. Problem is, people drowse off driving straight roads. That is why the Garden State Parkway has curves on it.
Don’t forget your Outback explorations - hard-to-find loos, and hard-to-find servos if you break down or run out of fuel…
I figure if I was in the outback, needing a loo - well there's always quite a few BIG loos. I find them behind trees or behind billboards. They don't have t.p. or running water, though.
It's okay for a bloke. A bit harder for a woman.
It also depends where you are. Across the Nullarbor, there are no trees of any decent size to hide behind.
There are, however, fuel and rest stops every 100 kilometres (60 miles approx) in the remote areas.
This is the 100 kilometre (60 mile approx) dead straight section of the Eyre Highway crossing the Nullarbor, in South Australia. And yes, they are runway end markings painted on the road surface. This is so the Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft can land to pick up patients in need of rescue.
60 miles of straight road. Similar to Autobahn. Problem is, people drowse off driving straight roads. That is why the Garden State Parkway has curves on it.
You don't tend to drowse off while you're crossing the Nullarbor - too much wildlife to keep an eye out for!
That image I posted further upthread shows why - there are no fences along the road!
Stick shifts are fun in open land. Learned to drive a stick on a 73 Vette. Pretty much learned how to do a donut at the same time I learned to drive. In the city, you can have them. No desire at all to shift that much at all.
my first vehicle was a used 1965 Triumph tr4-A with spoke racing wheels. It had four on the floor.
My buddies and I would get together every Sunday morning to do "road racing" on the windy roads of Prospect Park in Brooklyn where most of us lived. The park roads were closed at 9AM for walkers and bicycle riders. On a few occasions, NYPD would chase us through the park but could never catch us because they could not keep up their speed on the winding curvy roads driving their 6 cylinder Plymouth and ford squad cars!
We called ourselves the the BBRRC(Brooklyn British Road Racing Club) Mike from Queens had a Ferrari Luzo GT, the rest of us British cars-Triumph, MG, Austin Healy 3000, Morgan and so on.
A few years later, I purchased a new 1969 Datsun(now know as Nissan) model 2000 with five on the floor. It only weighed 1982 lbs and had a 2 liter engine. It could cruise at 125+ MPH and top out at 135!
A year later, I met my wife and we were married 1971. She totally hated it being so close to the ground with bus an truck tires about two feet higher than us.
We purchased a Toyota Celica with five on the floor in 1973. We still had it when we began looking to move to NJ in 1981. I explained to her that she could no longer walk a few blocks to got to the supermarket or pharmacy and would need to get a drivers license and learn to drive.
She loved driving a stick shift. Just before we moved here, the car was damaged beyond what we anted to spend for repairs so we purchased a new Nissan Sentra five speed.
Living in Maplewood, we soon realized we needed to have two vehicles so I purchased a Toyota Camry LE. They were only available with automatic transmissions. My wife drove five speeds until 2013 when she decided to purchase a Mazda 3, only available with automatic.
My old Datsun 2000 is now considered a classic sports car. Depending upon condition and restoration, the range from more than $20.000 to nearly $50,000!!!!!
I still remember the price of my Datusn 2000-$2900 +tax.the
My old vehicles below. The Triumph is at a body shop after an on local streets road racing accident
my first vehicle was a used 1965 Triumph tr4-A with spoke racing wheels. It had four on the floor.
My buddies and I would get together every Sunday morning to do "road racing" on the windy roads of Prospect Park in Brooklyn where most of us lived. The park roads were closed at 9AM for walkers and bicycle riders. On a few occasions, NYPD would chase us through the park but could never catch us because they could not keep up their speed on the winding curvy roads driving their 6 cylinder Plymouth and ford squad cars!
We called ourselves the the BBRRC(Brooklyn British Road Racing Club) Mike from Queens had a Ferrari Luzo GT, the rest of us British cars-Triumph, MG, Austin Healy 3000, Morgan and so on.
A few years later, I purchased a new 1969 Datsun(now know as Nissan) model 2000 with five on the floor. It only weighed 1982 lbs and had a 2 liter engine. It could cruise at 125+ MPH and top out at 135!
A year later, I met my wife and we were married 1971. She totally hated it being so close to the ground with bus an truck tires about two feet higher than us.
We purchased a Toyota Celica with five on the floor in 1973. We still had it when we began looking to move to NJ in 1981. I explained to her that she could no longer walk a few blocks to got to the supermarket or pharmacy and would need to get a drivers license and learn to drive.
She loved driving a stick shift. Just before we moved here, the car was damaged beyond what we anted to spend for repairs so we purchased a new Nissan Sentra five speed.
Living in Maplewood, we soon realized we needed to have two vehicles so I purchased a Toyota Camry LE. They were only available with automatic transmissions. My wife drove five speeds until 2013 when she decided to purchase a Mazda 3, only available with automatic.
My old Datsun 2000 is now considered a classic sports car. Depending upon condition and restoration, the range from more than $20.000 to nearly $50,000!!!!!
I still remember the price of my Datusn 2000-$2900 +tax.the
My old vehicles below. The Triumph is at a body shop after an on local streets road racing accident
Ohhh, for many years I secretly lusted for a Morgan.
I've got quit reading this thread. Today when going West on Rt.10 I realized my left foot was kind of moving around on the floor looking for the clutch petal.
I jest. (Here, dotted white lines divide same-going lanes.)