Canadian Drivers vs American Drivers

[BFMF]

I personally don't think students should start out with a stickshift, especially in traffic. After they're more comftorable with driving then maybe.

[Craig.]

actually andrew, every single person i have asked and have had tell me, have said that stickshift is the better way to start, you dont get into bad habits and you dont have to worry about learning it later on. i have had many arguments with people especially my parents about wanting to start on automatics, but always get the same chewing out for it:)
do you have two seperate licenses over there? here we have on for automatic and one for manual, obviously if you have a full license for manual you can drive both, but if you only have automatic license you have to get one obviously for manual to drive them

[Iroquois]

Lol. I posted this just before I left for school and it's already a hot topic. Today wasn't so bad but I still saw a lot of infractions. Each day, I drive 15km from where I live to the Meadowvale bus depot. If you remember SilverFox, he lives near there. It's along country a streatch of country highway. People are very agressive. Sometimes the bus gets cut off on the way to school. At the school parking lot, people don't let people get in or out so the bus can't get into it's stop.

I didn't know that DominicanRepublic, Trinidad, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela (and a host of other places) were in Canada!

We are a very multicultural nation.  ;D

On the topic of learning to drive. I remember being made to drive around Toronto. What a nerve wracking experiance.  ::)

[BFMF]

Well, when I first began to learn how to drive, just right out of Driver's Ed, I was given the chance to drive a Manual. Let me tell you, I had the hardest time keeping up with everything PLUS shifting gears.

I think that for a total beginner who has never driven before, driving a Stick in traffic is too much for the first time. But that's just me

I think the better way to go is to learn and practice driving a stick on your own private land, and once you start driving on the public roads, you will already be somewhat comfterable with a stick

[Hagar]

On the subject of learning to drive it depends on your circumstances & where you are. Automatics are far less common (& less popular) in the UK than in the US. Most driving schools in the UK teach on stickshift or what I would call manual. The same goes for hire cars. You would have to specify auto or you would be given a manual. This is the opposite to my experience in the US.

As Craig points out, you can drive an auto on a manual licence but not vice versa. This makes it far more sensible to learn on a manual.

[Smoke2much]

I think the better way to go is to learn and practice driving a stick on your own private land, and once you start driving on the public roads, you will already be somewhat comfterable with a stick

Nice idea but I don't know anyone with any private land, if i had the money to have private land I would have been able to afford lessons years ago and wouldn't be moaning now.

Will

[BFMF]

Nice idea but I don't know anyone with any private land, if i had the money to have private land I would have been able to afford lessons years ago and wouldn't be moaning now.

oops, forgot nobody else lives in the middle of nowhere like me