Yeah here in MS you do have to have a class "D" lisence for trucks over a certain weight or for large passenger vans/buses. I think Semi Truck Drivershave to get an additional class after "D" but I'm not sure what it's called.

 

here in new york you get a d linces but yeah bascially there no specail one for maunual or automatic.

 

My first car that I purchased brand newwas a 96 Honda civic hatchback 5spd. My mom had to drive that car off the lot and home for me. I had never ever touched another 5spd and I was only an18 yearold girl. I had afriend who had a 5spd paseo and shehelped me alot. I was most intimidated by hills and having to stop andstart on hills. So she followed me around onto manydifferent hills and we stopped together and she would rollback if she had to because of me. Because of her I learned with no problem. I tried having my dad teach me but he did not have the patience. He just yelled and told me to take himback home becauseI kept stalling out. It's funny now that I think about it. Since then I have driven alot of different cars and trucks that are 5spd. I have foundthat all clutches aredifferent no matter what vehicle but once you learn youcandrive any 5spd. Hey if I could learn to drive a 5spd with no problem anyone can.Good luck with whatever you decide.The only time that I regret having a 5spd is when I'm in start andstop traffic. Thatreally sucks. Your feet willget tired

 

having to work both pedals in start and stop traffic has been the only thing keeping me awake at times.. *L* Luckily I don't have to deal with that very often where I live...

 

Well ladies and gents I am one shocked Englishman. Just reading Breeze's account on learning to drive a manual on the public highway is astounding. At present in the UK you can have driving lessons with an instructor and/or a friend or relative assuming they have been driving for over 12 months (I think) and must be over 21. What most people do is learn with an instructor with duel controls (as you probably do in the US). They are looking to make it a requirement that you spend a minimum of 120 hours with a qualified instructor before you can take a test.

I did a combination of both instructor and in my case my father in my own car and an instructors with duel controls.

My wife's Aunty lives in Forth Worth and she visits us quite often. I offered to let her use my car but she has refrained on the account she does not do manual transmission, I always assumed he did not have a license to drive a manual, I now know that she just needs practice

On a UK license it states whether you can drive a manual transmission car. I wonder if you presented a UK auto trans only license in the US at a rental centre they would allow you drive a manual car?

Again probably something that is widely known, the vast majority of cars in the UK and probably Europe as a whole are manual transmission. Mainly the luxury car sector such as Mercedes, Jaguar etc are the auto trans models.

One last thing. I have only visited Florida (on at least 11 separate occasions) and Texas, soon Las Vegas and Los Angeles and have generally found the driving standards in the US to be extremely good. I find lane discipline is the US far better than ours, we can only pass on the right (equivalent to your left). I like the right turns on red, in the UK (left turns) you have to stop an wait even though nothing may be coming. Lastly tailgating in the UK is a big problem. Drivers who drive too close. Not witnessed this in the US.

 

The quality of drivers all depends on what part of the US you are in. A lot of states here in the deep south have some pretty terrible drivers!
In my past experience, I have never even seen a rental car company offer a car with amanual transmission. I think it is because many Americans are lazy or soooo many people over here cannot drive a manual.
Plus, it is hard to talk on the cell phone while driving if you drive a manual. Driving while talking on the cell phone should be outlawed. I know it is in some states, but it hasn't been in MS yet. I have seen people driving on the INTERSTATE doing about 40mph swerving all over the place. Naturally I figured they were intoxicated, but when I passed them i realized that they were just talking on their cell phone!
If my phone rings while I am driving, the only reason I will pick it up is to tell someone I will call them back once I am not driving.

 

agreed its real bad when they try to get into the flow of traffic like at a intercect or ramp into the highway.

 

This is why I'm so amazed by the new nissan Versa..... the whole cell phone thing.... it's got built in bluetooth so you just link up your cell phone and while you are driving around if it rings it cuts off the radio and lets you know it's ringing and then works off voice commands.... so you can leave your phone in your pocket if you want... not to mention finally a car where you can't lock your keys in!

 

Breeze Wrote: "I have foundthat all clutches aredifferent no matter what vehicle but once you learn youcandrive any 5spd."

I totally agree. I should have mentioned that in my "How to" post. The reason my 5.0 Mustang was so difficult to drive was the clutch and the gas. The clutch was hard as a rock and so was the gas. So you had to stomp real hard on the clutch and try to ease on the gas even though the gas was so hard a lot of times you revved the engine too high (thus smoking the tires or risking burning up the clutch). I finally got the hang of it after a week or too.
My Honda clutch and gas are super-smooth and easy to operate. I have never stalled it out once since I've had it.

 

Using a phone without hands free in the UK means you now get 3 points on your license (12 is a ban) and a fine.

Using a phone whilst driving is dangerous. I do have bluetooth but even that distracts, but at least two hands stay on the wheel.