[Way]

Excellent 7653 :2tup:

I know in Vermont, in order to get my license a year early, I had to take a driving class in high school and had a learner's permit for that time. The school car had magnetic stickers on the side and rear saying "Student Driver" but it wasn't required on private cars I was practicing in. Some states also restrict new drivers to daytime only, no passengers also I think. I also had to have an adult over 18 with me during that period. I learned automatic first, manual later.

For commercial driving though, you only get the endorsement for which you trained, ie if you learned to drive a truck with automatic that's all you are legally allowed to drive, no manual. At the time I got my commercial license, all trucks had manual, automatic was still in the developmental stages.

In Europe, stick is the manly way to drive. In the States we compensated with big cars/big horsepower. And unfortunately due to the continued dumbing down of our people, more and more it's expected that automatic transmissions will take over the job of shifting at the most fuel efficient rpms. That way people can text without being distracted too much. :hide: