Markku Gr�nroos

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> kirjoitti
viestiss�:QO2dnbivFun_n4rYnZ2dnUVZ_oadnZ2d@comcast .com...
    > It's a funny thing that, while using cell phones while driving is
    > restricted or forbidden for reasons of safety and distraction, the use of
    > a stick shift is not :-)
These are two and different things though. Talking to someone on a phone
actually can distract one's attention from traffic while it is hard to see
that manual gearing would do that.

Mike Reid

On Sat, 23 Sep 2006 20:38:33 -0400, "James Silverton"
<not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:

    > Why do
    >Mercedes and others give people paddles on the wheel so that
    >drivers can pretend they are Grand Prix types and change gear
    >without actually using a clutch?

you already gave the reason! The paddles arent very ergonomic on most
cars.
Many Mercs here are useless as manuals as they are designed to be auto
with a foot parking brake, which is hopeless with a manual. You also
find cars like a Honda Accord Coupe and IIRC that ugly as sin
Crossfire thing where the gearlever is a design afterthought with
storage boxes/armrests making proper use impossible.
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

Mike Reid

On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 18:10:46 -0400, "James Silverton"
<not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:

    >It's a funny thing that, while using cell phones while driving
    >is restricted or forbidden for reasons of safety and
    >distraction, the use of a stick shift is not :-)

I see the smiley but your boss asking you a career risk question or
your girlfriend asking if you would like a rumble in 10 minutes tends
to distract more than subconsciously noting revs and performing a
automatic sequence of events!

Unless some people are in that couldn't walk and chew gum situation!
    :-)
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

Mike Reid

On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 21:40:38 +0200, Dave Frightens Me
<deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:

    >Manual transmission is another thing for your brain to deal with, and
    >it can affect your ability to concentrate. When you just have to aim,
    >it's a whole lot simpler.

if your brains near its limit changing gear, stop driving! My
experience is its often the *lack* of things to do thats the problem.
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

Mike Reid

On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:37:56 -0700, "Billzz"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Another funny thing is that helicopter pilots have their left hand on the
    >cyclic, their right hand on the joystick, their feet on the rudders, all
    >while monitoring at least two radio channels.

many people couldn't fly a helicopter!

    >Maybe if we had graduated
    >driver licenses we could weed out those that cannot drive and talk at the
    >same time.

how would this work? You can use a phone if you have demonstrated
ability in a test?
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

Mike Reid

On Sat, 23 Sep 2006 08:24:39 -0400, "James Silverton"
<not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:

    > In
    >a congested traffic city, I don't want to be distracted by
    >irrelevancies.

once used to it, its not something that needs thought and it wastes
less fuel, hence less pollution. But in congestion its certainly less
leg work. On balance I think manual makes more sense.
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

Mike Reid

On 23 Sep 2006 09:12:00 -0700, "Harry" <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >A few days ago they got hold of a car propelled with a jet engine, "A
    >"Vampire". One of them (Hammond) crashed at 300mph. Now I think it
    >serves him right

they were trying to break a record, rather than "got hold of a car",
most people, even harsh critics of Top Gear have managed to be less
graceless than you.
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

David Horne

Mike Reid <[email protected]> wrote:

    > On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 18:10:46 -0400, "James Silverton"
    > <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
    >
    > >It's a funny thing that, while using cell phones while driving
    > >is restricted or forbidden for reasons of safety and
    > >distraction, the use of a stick shift is not :-)
    >
    > I see the smiley but your boss asking you a career risk question or
    > your girlfriend asking if you would like a rumble in 10 minutes tends
    > to distract more than subconsciously noting revs and performing a
    > automatic sequence of events!

Yet stand at any pedestrian crossing here and it won't be long until you
see someone talking on a phone while driving, despite it being against
the law. Texting while driving isn't uncommon either.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://www.davidhorne.net/pictures.html http://soundjunction.org

Icono Clast

Keith Willshaw wrote:
    > Stick shift isnt distracting, after 30 years of driving one I
    > no more think about shifting gear than I do about
    > breathing.

After decades of not shifting at all, I got in a car in Venice,
neither jerked it nor killed the engine, went through the gears and
never thought about it another moment except to appreciate the
excellent synchromesh and short throw.

I gave it so little thought, in fact, that I didn't even bother to
mention it in http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/ItalDRIVE.html

-- __________________________________________________ ______________
Truth is a torch that gleams through the fog without dispelling it.
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ -<->- http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 -------> IClast at Gmail com

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

K

Martin wrote:
    > On 22 Sep 2006 01:20:57 -0700, "K" <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >There are places in Europe where public transport has a modal share of
    > >60% of more and it copes just fine...
    > Albania? Rockall?

Z�rich. Bern.
(not mentioning those places in Switzerland that have zero private car
traffic...)


Krist

Mike Reid

On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:22:41 +0100,
[email protected] (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of
the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote:

    >> I see the smiley but your boss asking you a career risk question or
    >> your girlfriend asking if you would like a rumble in 10 minutes tends
    >> to distract more than subconsciously noting revs and performing a
    >> automatic sequence of events!
    >Yet stand at any pedestrian crossing here and it won't be long until you
    >see someone talking on a phone while driving, despite it being against
    >the law.

very bad, something we agree on!

    >Texting while driving isn't uncommon either.

never seen it but no doubt some lunatic has done it, must be hard not
to crash.
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

B Vaughan

On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:12:04 +0100, Mike Reid <[email protected]>
wrote:

    >Unless some people are in that couldn't walk and chew gum situation!

Did you ever hear Lyndon Johnson's original quotation? Referring to
Gerald Ford, he said he couldn't fart and walk straight. In those days
you couldn't use the word "fart" in any respectable medium, so some
reporter changed it to "chew gum".

Just one of the many things you learn reading r.t.e.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

David Horne

Mike Reid <[email protected]> wrote:

    > On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:22:41 +0100,
    > [email protected] (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of
    > the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote:
    >
    > >> I see the smiley but your boss asking you a career risk question or
    > >> your girlfriend asking if you would like a rumble in 10 minutes tends
    > >> to distract more than subconsciously noting revs and performing a
    > >> automatic sequence of events!
    > >
    > >Yet stand at any pedestrian crossing here and it won't be long until you
    > >see someone talking on a phone while driving, despite it being against
    > >the law.
    >
    > very bad, something we agree on!
    >
    > >Texting while driving isn't uncommon either.
    >
    > never seen it but no doubt some lunatic has done it, must be hard not
    > to crash.

Oh, gosh, you'd be shocked at the frequency of it. I've seen it several
times, so you only need to extrapolate on that.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://www.davidhorne.net/pictures.html http://soundjunction.org

Keith W

"Mike Reid" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:22:41 +0100,
    > [email protected] (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of
    > the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote:
    >>> I see the smiley but your boss asking you a career risk question or
    >>> your girlfriend asking if you would like a rumble in 10 minutes tends
    >>> to distract more than subconsciously noting revs and performing a
    >>> automatic sequence of events!
    >>Yet stand at any pedestrian crossing here and it won't be long until you
    >>see someone talking on a phone while driving, despite it being against
    >>the law.
    > very bad, something we agree on!
    >>Texting while driving isn't uncommon either.
    > never seen it but no doubt some lunatic has done it, must be hard not
    > to crash.

I've seen someone doing it while weaving down the road on a bicycle !
and yes he fell off - in the middle of the Madingley Road in Cambridge.

Keith

Dgs

Mike Reid wrote:

    > [...]
    > Many Mercs here are useless as manuals as they are designed to be auto
    > with a foot parking brake, which is hopeless with a manual. You also
    > find cars like a Honda Accord Coupe and IIRC that ugly as sin
    > Crossfire thing where the gearlever is a design afterthought with
    > storage boxes/armrests making proper use impossible.

Heh. That ugly-as-sin Crossfire thing is pretty much Mercedes-Benz
under that repulsive exterior. Chrysler seems to be appealing to the
brutalist school of auto design lately. Mercs don't look nearly so
hideous. Yet they're the same company. Go figure. (Also go figure
why DC won't export the A-series to the USA. I had fun driving one of
the little buggers in Belgium and France.)
--
dgs