Millennial theft deterent

That's at least the fourth one of these I have read since telling a friend years ago that vehicle with manual transmissions are, however unintentionally, a form of theft deterrent.

Another story had it that a would-be thief held up a nurse for her vehicle. Got in the vehicle, dumped the clutch and repeatedly dumped it. Eventually, the police were called and the guy was hauled off.

 

Reminds me of one of my biggest laughs during a 007 flick:

 

During his time at The Florida Times-Union, Thomas Lake (recently of SI and CNN) wrote of his experience being carjacked.

After Lake escaped, the assailant left his car in the middle of the street where the incident took place because it was a manual.

 

Not for nothing, but if they didn’t know how to drive a manual transmission, how did they start the car? With most stick shifts, you need to have a clutch to the floor to start it, otherwise it won’t turn over.

 

Probably started it then stalled.

Dual bylines for that, AP?

 

I gave up the clutch in my late 20s because it was a hassle during the commute; damn driving a stick was fun when I could go 0-70 in 2nd gear in my 88 GT.

 

I think its a byline for the entire notes/briefs section. Some are by Dana, some by Justin and some by AP. Dana seems to be the one who wrote the stick shift one. (see Dana's name at the end of the item)

 

Millennial theft deterrent? Distract them by parking next to a Selfie Station.

 

Been a city/public transit person for a long time now. Only time I drive anymore is on vacation or the occasional Zip car for a trip to the 'burbs. No rental car is ever a stick, of course.

I miss country driving, open roads. Just rolling along. City driving blows.

Someday, I won't live in a city and will have a car again. Every car I ever owned was a stick. Just love driving that way.

I wonder how hard it will be to get a manual in 15-20 years.

The last new car I bought, going on 20 years ago, was a stick. Had to wait a week to get it because they didn't have what I wanted on the lot.

 

With a lot of models you have to specifically order a "standard" if you want one. I gave in with my last purchase because my wife refused to learn to drive a manual. She tried. It didn't go well. There are rare occasions she needs to be able to drive my car.

 

I remember reading somewhere that roughly 7 percent of cars sold in the United States have manual transmissions. I'm not sure that any full-size truck models, for instance, offer a manual as an option.

In the rest of the world, manual transmissions still dominate.