Yeah, but that symptom of unfamiliarity should last minutes or hours, not years.
I’ve ridden with two people who do that, one was male, one female. The woman, I wondered if I was imagining the forward/backward jerking. A discreet eye towards the tachometer demonstrated I wasn’t. She was driving me home as a favor, so I didn’t say anything.
The man, I had no doubt. He was driving me to a doctor appointment for a concussion and kept at the stomp the gas, stomp the brake, stomp the gas, stomp the brake thing until I pointed out that the jarring probably wasn’t good for a head injury, not to mention being F*CKING PAINFUL!
As for it being because of manual transmission, it’s BS. Yes, you have to take your foot off the gas to shift, but practically every manual driver I’ve ridden with has managed to do this smoothly.
I used to do this when I was beginning to drive (hard on gas…crap! Going over the speed limit, better go off the gas…going too slow! Hard on the gas…repeat until dead) until I got a better feel for keeping my foot steady and how hard on the gas you need for a particular speed.
Changing gear…nah. The judder there is more about clutch control than what you do with the gas (especially going from first to second gear).
My Wife, an otherwise excellent driver, (never an accident) used to do something like this but, I think, worse.
Her steering corrections on wide open highway where too abrupt. It wasn’t a mechanical or ball joint issue.
Left, right, left, right, left right at 60 mph. Too big of a correction each time. No finesse.
I’m not sure if I said something to her about it our not. But it has stopped.
I think when you are behind the wheel, you don’t notice it, your body knows it’s coming. A passenger does notice it.
My father does this, and it’s the main reason I avoid riding with him whenever possible.
My first car (an Impala wagon that was nearly 20 years old) wouldn’t start on cold days unless one pumped the gas pedal.
The clutch is on the left, the gas is on the right – how do you manage that trick? And why? The gas and brake are managed with one foot, the clutch with the other – how on earth do you get going from a stop any other way?
I came in to post this. I lived in Korea for 9 years. I used to joke that the Korean culture is digital. All or Nothing. Their bus drivers are certainly that way. Used to drive me nuts. I wanted to yell out, “Dude!! there’s more positions than up and down on that damn thing”
BTW, I’m male and don’t pump. … and I drive a manual.
My wife does this. She also doesn’t brake until the last possible second (Or so it seems). I try not to pay too much attention when she’s driving and pray a lot.
I try to do most of the driving 
(Am I the only one who was surprised to find that the thread was about driving and not something… dirtier?)
You definately exlained it much better than I! Exactly! “on one second, off one second”, on/off, etc - gads! why didnt I think of that?
I know i used to yell at my ex-s.o. and tell him to use the f’n cruise control when we were on the highway/interstate.
I dont know if Projammer does this because of a nerve issue or what - i should check to see if they have some sort of seating correction thing to relieve the pressure and maybe that’ll help.
Overall, Projammer is a pretty good driver… now only if I can break him of trying to manipulate the GPS while driving (AND while he has a passenger that can do it for him!), and texting while driving. I havent seen him read a book and drive lately, so that’sa good thing. Of course, I always stress to him that today is not a good day for ME to die.
I was really really really surprised to see how many women do this same thing! My dad taught me to drive on a manual and he kept his hand firmly on my knee so when I started pumping the gas while learning to drive, it HURT! I learned quickly not to do that. My dad was a mechanic, btw.
Female. I do my best to drive steadily, it’s better for the car. The only time I pump a pedal is on certain braking situations (slick floor) where “standing on the pedal” can lock the brakes or send the car into a spin, so it’s much worse than pumping. And yes, I’ve had cars old enough to not have anti-lock.
If you do that you’re not switching gears right.
(Am I the only one who was surprised to find that the thread was about driving and not something… dirtier?)
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smiles mischieviously 
Projammer: try changing the angle of the foot when that shaking starts. I have a similar problem when I’m in stop’n’go traffic for too long and that normally stops it. (The good thing about it being in stop’n’go is that it’s only the left foot and I can rest it flat when I’m stopped)
One thing that occurs to me here - I know I find any car ride more jerky in terms of acceleration and braking than I do when I’m the driver.
This isn’t because I’m the world’s best driver (although of course that is true), it’s because I have hold of the steering wheel to brace my upper body, I am sitting in a more alert and taut manner than I would as a passenger and, as I am in control of the car, I am able to anticipate and instantaneously compensate for any acceleration, whereas a passenger can only react.
Yes, different feet, but you still have to take your foot off the gas when using the clutch, otherwise as soon as the clutch is decoupled the engine will rev to the redline!
Anyway, back to the OP, I have never heard of or experienced this “gas pumping”. The only time I ever do anything remotely similar is when I extend my steering-wheel drumming to a full-drumkit rockout, bass pedal and all (and I don’t do that when I have passengers!)
Sure, you did it a couple of times, and then adjusted I bet, and didn’t do it constantly. I’ve done the same thing having owned manual transmission cars for 17+ years. Using it as an excuse for driving poorly the rest of the time is crap. Really, I had more of an adjustment period in learning to stop reaching for the stick.
I’m male and my sister does this. She use to always drive a stick which makes it much more noticeable. All I can think of is the abuse the U-joints or CV joints are taking (not to mention it’s just annoying). Not that I’m making claims as world’s best driver but my awareness of the mechanical side of driving is pretty high.