Bill Nash: Life is much simpler not dealing with clutch and gear changes

The question was simple. There were only two possible answers, yes or no. And yet, if I answered yes, a great deal of explanation would be required. The question was: Do you know how to drive a manual transmission?

My answer was: Yes, but. As in, yes, but I’m terrible at it. Yes, but I don’t want to. Yes, but I don’t see the point. Yes, but I can’t survive the spike in my blood pressure. Yes, but I can’t afford the replacement parts.

A USA Today poll of new car buyers asked the same question and 65 percent of the respondents answered yes. In explicably, the poll stopped short of asking if those same buyers actually purchased a manual transmission vehicle. My guess is, not many did. In 2012, stick shift cars accounted for only about 7 percent of new vehicles sold.

Most of the cars sold with manual transmissions are performance vehicles, but not all. Some are economy models where the stick shift adds to the fuel mileage. Except it doesn’t. Not always. According to the experts, additional fuel mileage also depends on the type of car and the person driving it.

The most compelling reason I’ve seen for having a manual transmission is that it forces you to concentrate on your driving. That concentration prevents you from talking on the phone, texting or sipping your latte. It’s a good argument, as far as it goes. I’m a case in point.

When I was growing up, my parents both drove automatic transmissions. So, when it came time for me to take driver’s training, it didn’t make sense to learn how to drive a stick shift since I’d only be driving automatics. It wasn’t until I was 34 that I popped my first clutch.

That clutch was in a 1954 Mack fire engine, older than I was and considerably more temperamental. Well, not considerably. It was a cruel teacher and I was a poor student. The Mack had an open cab, a bench seat and required me to double clutch to shift. A piece of advice for anyone learning how to drive a stick on public streets: choose a vehicle that attracts less attention than a fire engine.

There were times when the noise of the siren was overcome by the sound of grinding gears. Parts littered the streets and traffic would back up any time I had to start from a dead stop on a hill. Stalling the engine became a way of life for me.

But it was true, driving the manual transmission required all of my concentration. All of it. Even the parts of it that should have been watching for pedestrians, traffic signals and stopped cars. I was much more effective, and much less hazardous to the public, when I transferred to a fire engine with an automatic.

I was, perhaps, something of an aberration. There are many people for whom learning how to drive a stick shift comes easily and naturally. I actually envy those people. A little. They can drive any car they want but, even in heavy traffic, on hills, in the rain and on the interstate, they have to remember to shift.

I’m much happier doing the driving and letting the car shift. I find I attract a lot less attention that way and my language is much more civilized.

So, do I know how to drive a manual transmission? Yes, but.