# Tell Me About Teaching Someone to Drive a Stick **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-teaching-someone-to-drive-a-stick/691008 "2014-06-17T21:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-teaching-someone-to-drive-a-stick/691008/61 "2014-06-22T13:55:58Z")
I can’t find the link, but this was an amusing news story from a couple of years back. A woman driving (IIRC) a Mustang was car-jacked. The 'jackers didn’t make it more than a couple of blocks because her car was a manual and they couldn’t drive it. So they abandoned it and ran away; the woman got back in her car and called the cops. 😃 If I could own only manual transmission cars, I would. I vastly prefer driving a stick. A couple of years ago the alternator in my truck went out. I was in a strip mall parking lot and asked a couple of young guys to push-start my dead truck. They had no clue such a thing was possible. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-teaching-someone-to-drive-a-stick/691008/62 "2014-06-24T20:29:37Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Most drivers learning a manual don’t give it enough gas. So I would suggest telling him to give it the gas! This. Too much gas is better than too much clutch. Slipping is conducive to learning (in the short term). I learned to drive a standard before I owned one. The dealer was shocked that I had never driven one before and was working off of “Knowing the theory, how hard could it be…?” ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-teaching-someone-to-drive-a-stick/691008/63 "2014-06-24T21:18:37Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I can’t find the link, but this was an amusing news story from a couple of years back. A woman driving (IIRC) a Mustang was car-jacked. The 'jackers didn’t make it more than a couple of blocks because her car was a manual and they couldn’t drive it. So they abandoned it and ran away; the woman got back in her car and called the cops. 😃 It just happened again this weekend. If you want to be a carjacker, you better know how to drive a stick shift to be successful at it. [http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Teens-auto-theft-attempt-foiled-by-stick-shift--264171501.html?tab=video&c=y](http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Teens-auto-theft-attempt-foiled-by-stick-shift--264171501.html?tab=video&c=y) ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-teaching-someone-to-drive-a-stick/691008/64 "2014-06-24T21:22:39Z")
One thing I will recommend against doing: Do **NOT** for _any_ reason attempt to teach someone how to drive in an empty church parking lot at 4 pm on a Sunday. Because, when the evening service draws close, it becomes anarchy. (Yes, my ex thought that’d be a good place for me to learn. He didn’t think his cunning plan all the way through. I still can’t drive a stick.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-teaching-someone-to-drive-a-stick/691008.md?page=3)