See, all this is why I drive nice and slow, with one foot on the brake and one on the gas at all times - minimizes my reaction time - maximizes my options - I feel good knowing I’m making things safer for everyone, plus all the friendly beep beeps I get makes it fun!
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The anti-vax argument exists pretty much entirely around children, not about people vaccinating themselves (since most vaccinations are childhood vaccinations). But I see your follow-up post now 
That aside, the “pregnant women and measles aside” exception is a VERY VERY BIG exception. Because it’s not just measles. It’s any communicable disease that can be vaccinated against (they’re all dangerous, that’s why we vaccinate against them). And it’s not just pregnant women. It’s newborn children. And immunocompromised folks (people undergoing chemotherapy, people with immunodeficiency diseases, etc). And that small percentage of people for whom vaccines don’t work.
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In fact in the UK the higher up the price range you go in cars, the more automatics are sold. Once I reached director level it was assumed that your company car would be automatic; there are much more important things to do in life than cope with a transmission designed in the days when just getting a vehicle running was a challenge.
The manual transmission is a terrible kludge that arose because the characteristics of the gasoline engine made it ill suited to working a road vehicle (unlike the steam engine which had other problems). You ended up with a box full of gears most of which at any given time are unused and just producing friction, and a friction clutch system which is most liable to fail when most needed, on steep hills. What’s more, its operation has nothing at all to do with being a good driver. Driving is about correct use of the road, anticipation, observation, being ready to deal with adverse conditions and taking evasive action, not about stirring a box full of cogs. But people who aren’t actually vehicle engineers tend not to think of this.
The only virtue of the manual transmission is that it is cheap, and relatively easy to design because the driver is left to deal with its inadequacies. (The extreme case is perhaps the early T34 tank where sometimes two crew members were needed to haul on the gear stick.) That’s why it still gets used in small, cheap cars and vans.
Unfortunately good automatic transmissions have proven hard to design because of the basically poor engine characteristics of the gasoline and Diesel engine. The slush box is rather inefficient and needs a planetary gear train. The dual-clutch auto is complex and the single-clutch auto is lumpy.
However, CVTs are getting pretty good now. The new ones made for Toyota combine a small slush box and a CVT and have no gear train. Hybrids, which are effectively electric CVTs, are very good but more complex.
I have driven every kind of manual and automatic over the years, and my strong preference now is for the hybrid or the CVT. Talking to London minicab drivers, they like the Prius because, as one of them said to me, “You can just drive it without thinking”. Minicab drivers don’t have anything to prove, they just want to get from A to B quickly and get home without RSI in the stick hand.
I suspect that in 10 years the manual box will be there with pushrod valve trains, the carburetor and drum brakes as something that once people thought of as kind of natural, when in fact it was just a visible example of the limitations of engineering.
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You’ll be prising my gearstick out of my cold dead hands (whether that’s on a snow-covered hill or not remains to be seen… 
)
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Brakes are not simply safety devices, as you would discover if you lived half way up a hill and wanted to stop outside your front door. Just as the engine provides acceleration, brakes provide deceleration. Far from being overcompensated, more effective brakes allow more accurate control of the vehicle and, as you can easily discover, being able to outbrake someone on a road with junctions means that you can actually go faster than they do overall.
This is where the vaccine analogy breaks [note spelling] down of course. But it would be a pity to derail the argument.
It’s also more fun.
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The issue with vaccines isn’t so much of a scientific argument its really a symptom of the Trolley Problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem ). If someone had the choice between a one in thousand risk of something bad happening to their child and 1 in a million, they would naturally go for one in a million. However, the act of vaccination carries a small risk that the parent must choose to do, some people feel that their child having a bad reaction to a vaccine would be their fault. Whereas, if they happen to get sick they didn’t actively participate in them getting sick, ergo not their or their child’s fault, just a natural risk. They see it as a blameless one in a thousand against a blameful one in one million, they’d rather take the riskier option.
The disinformation about vaccines is more to do with people trying to justify their fear and inactivity. You can talk about risks and scientific evidence all you want but it will not sway them. Perhaps the best way to handle this is have every child on course to be vaccinated by default, and have parents choose to opt out. That way they actively have to stop the child from getting vaccinated. We have to be very careful what language we use in this debate because its a very emotional issue for many people, we need to reassure people that they aren’t to blame for bad vaccine reactions and their child is getting a far better chance. We will still have crackpots but at least their BS will land on deaf(er) ears.
At least that’s what I reckon…
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LOL, I read on the internet that new cars that are subjected to large decelerations (due mainly to brakes) have a higher chance of developing Autosim. Maybe new cars should have brakes as an option and not standard equipment.
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Nice copy/paste job there. Maybe mention in the “article” who actually wrote that instead of just hiding the link at the bottom in the hopes people might think someone else’s cleverness is your own.
Having deep experience with the Toyota CV gears in both a Prius and a Highlander, as well as the Porsche PDK in a 911S – I will go with the PDK.
The only CVT I’ve ever experienced was in a Dodge Caliber, and I thought it was hateful.
To be fair, I hated everything else about that car too. How do Chrysler still exist when everything they make is a godawful piece of junk? (source: I’ve driven the Dodge Caliber and Charger, Chrysler 200 and that fucking awful sub-PT Cruiser thing, the HRT or whatever it was called).
These are the brakes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcLITA7Ugw0
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I can’t believe you guys are taking so long to make the obvious comment. I’ll just have to do it.
You know who else insisted on his cars having brakes? Hitler! That’s who.
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You want hateful? My dad had a DAF 55. It was fun going backwards fast though.
Thought your car needed one set of brakes? Guess again. We’ve got 36 different braking systems we’d like to install. Some work pretty well. Some not so much. Some might interfere with each other but we’re not too sure. That one we told you would last forever? You should really get it fitted again just to be certain. And again. Third times a charm. But we don’t know why. Some of our brakes may interfere with other systems on your vehicle but don’t worry about that. We’re fully indemnified if we damage your vehicle during fitting. The long term effects of heavy braking are largely unknown. You own a truck you say? A sports car? Well, we only have one of each type of brake so good luck. We’re coming up with new sorts of brake all the time for situations you never even thought you needed to stop for. Note that most people never get their brakes checked out after first installation and are cheerfully driving around as though they can slow down any time they want. Happy motoring.
A manual transmission continues to offer the best possible control of a vehicle in performance or sport conditions. Your comments completely ignore this.
Edit: Unless you are JLW and you’re driving a Porsche!
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I’m curious to know in what ways Isranner thinks that a comparison between the US and Somalia can possibly say anything good about the US.
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YES! This is my philosophy precisely, but this puts it more distinctly than I ever managed! Stealing this.
reminds me of the Vonnegut thing when he said that guns were always legal, but when he was young, people avoided using them because they were viewed as a coward’s weapon i.e. real men duke it out.
huh. I could see that. I no longer own a car, but I just like downshifting enough that I’d probably do it on a new car anyway, old habits and all that. then again, no new cars in the US are manual anymore…
As a 35 year automotive mastertech brakes do not impede the vehicle if properly serviced and are a necessity for life longevity of the driver pedestrians dogs cats varmints trees rock and cement walls and buildings and other vehicles…
you think any motorized vehicle does not need brakes you need to go back to drivers ed all over again youve missed the stop signal turn lesson day one…or your an imbecile. …
Anyone saying their mechanic is shifty and a thief might want to know only master techs can thoughtfully and properly diagnose a problem without just throwing Parts at your car till its fixed…theres no law,saying the guy working on your car has any formal training at all…ask for training credentials verbal or in print… before leaving your vehicle for repairs. if youve been ripped off…call the state office for inspection. They deal with fraudulent repair bills and unresolved repairs…
