I'm one of the weirdos who wouldn't mind this. I've been dailying my '97 Prelude for most of the summer since I bought it. I didn't think I'd want to drive it in traffic, but honestly, it's not the stop and go that ruins the experience for me. It's the fact that if I get hit by just about any of the trucks on the road, I'm getting a faceful of bumper and best I can hope for is to retain the use of my arms. It's basically a motorcycle that I can't lowside.

But I totally get that I'm a fringe case. I completely understand why this would just be too much for someone to want to keep up with in stop and go traffic. Besides, all that starting is bad for clutches. Autos with torque converters handle it a million times better.

Most people aren't car enthusiasts and enthusiasts need to come to terms with it. Manuals are dying. It's just the way the world is moving. Let's enjoy what we have now and appreciate we get to be a part of something we love.

[–] scifu@lemm.ee 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I think cars may have something to do with traffic but not sure.

[–] dmention7@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

There are correlations sure, but I'm not aware of any studies proving a causal link between cars and traffic.

I could just as plausibly say that 95% of cars in traffic have automatic transmissions. And so, just speculating here, but if they all switched to manual transmissions, we may see a significant reduction in traffic.

[–] KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Burn the witch!

[–] Cyberwitch_7493@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah something about induced demand and forcing people to mobilize by car because everything is spread out so much and not having dedicated bike paths or bus lanes or really any reliable public transportation that could reinvest in the community well-being...

It kinda makes everyone both have to drive and have to deal with traffic and poorly maintained infrastructure because the costs of maintenance are not equally shared between rich and poor communities, it really exacerbates the issues.

I'm all for you driving, provided, I can take a train/tram/bus or just walk, because that would be preferable.

[–] Espi@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So... Is a manual transmission not the correct solution? should I move so I can drive a manual?

One way or the other. Cars are the real problem there.

[–] dmention7@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago

Manual transmission or not, yes, I would confidently say that moving or changing jobs is the best solution to address a 3 hour commute. Bonus point being that you will better be able to enjoy your manual transmission.