Well That Was a New One

I came up behind a car at a stop light this morning. On the back was a bumper sticker which read:

WARNING
MANUAL TRANSMISSION
CAR MAY ROLL BACKWARDS

Follow him. Bring a Sharpie.

WARNING
I SUCK AT DRIVING
CAR MAY ROLL BACKWARDS

Wtf. Even if you have that coordination problem you use the handbrake as appropriate to remedy it.

Here we have a person with the decency to warn the person behind them and we are jumping all over them.

RedGT wrote: Wtf. Even if you have that coordination problem you use the handbrake as appropriate to remedy it.

Unless you're in a car with an electronic or foot controlled parking brake. Then you're just berkeleyed until you learn to have 3 feet.

In reply to gearheadmb:

You're right, we should all just make stickers warning people of our inadequacies rather than actually addressing them and attempting to improve upon them in order to be less of a burden on the world around us.

WARNING
SARCASTIC JERK WITH KEYBOARD
OFFENSE MAY BE TAKEN

bravenrace wrote: I came up behind a car at a stop light this morning. On the back was a bumper sticker which read: WARNING MANUAL TRANSMISSION CAR MAY ROLL BACKWARDS

Yea, the way some people pull up on your tail just inches away. Because of course nothing ever goes wrong with operating a clutch, ever. Especially when you're worried about rolling back just a few inches. Cue rolling the eyes.

Way back when I used to drive a sloppy truck carrying heavy loads sometimes, when people would pull up tight on me I'd get out of the truck, walk to the rear, look at the gap, shake my head and yell "no guarantees!" as I'd head back to the cab. Many times they'd move back and give me a little room.

Old Bill Cosby Skit on driving a clutch

At first I thought maybe it was meant for the jackwagon that stops an inch away from your back bumper at a traffic light.

But it sounded too nice for that...

I feel like if we're trying to address the guy who stops within an inch of your bumper, it probably needs to be on the back window. He's not going to be able to read it way down below his hoodline

At one point, I talked to a guy who accidentally cured someone of pulling up too close... Straight piped 20B that really liked to throw fireballs in an FD and the guy was a little close. Took off from the traffic light with the guy a few inches from his bumper and supposedly left a nice slightly melted spot on the other guy's bumper...

idunno, but I've been driving manual trans vehicles of all types for 40 years, and I've never even come close to backing into someone. If you know how to drive a manual properly, you can do it without rolling backwards.

rslifkin wrote: At one point, I talked to a guy who accidentally cured someone of pulling up too close... Straight piped 20B that really liked to throw fireballs in an FD and the guy was a little close. Took off from the traffic light with the guy a few inches from his bumper and supposedly left a nice slightly melted spot on the other guy's bumper...

My fiat's would run rich... was always good for leaving a spot of soot on the car behind me if they got too close

People freak out comes back even an inch with a manual and I've had it happen several times with cars that I wasn't completely familiar. That guy probably had it happen several times as well and got tired of it.

Why are we bitching about someone that still drives a manual?!??? Give this man a trophy!

I considered a sticker like that when SWMBO bought her first stick shift car and started to daily it. Until she got the hang of it the chance of rolling back into someone was real she go so nervous.

We have some steep hills here in Seattle (think San Francisco grade) that in the MINI, especially when wet, I would just spin tires up the hill if I got stopped on one. Some of the hills I see rollback even with automatics. Now having a car with automatic hill hold (basically the emergency brake)I really appreciate that feature.

Just let your car roll back until bumpers make contact. Problem solved.

Never could, still can't understand why people do that close thing. I like to leave escape room.

I've seen a few cars rolling around Raleigh with a sign in them that said: "Learning how to drive a stickshift. Please be patient."

I thought it was a great idea. The one Bravenrace posted about seems to be kind of redundant.

I've never seen a group of people take a bumper sticker so serious before.

Trackmouse wrote: Why are we bitching about someone that still drives a manual?!??? Give this man a trophy!

Well in all fairness I should mention that the vehicle in question was a Kia SUV. Still, he wasn't doing us any favors by announcing that he didn't know how to drive one properly.

I have been known to let my truck roll backwards on purpose when people pull up within inches, especially if they just spent the last 2 miles tailgating. I just like to see their eyeballs get big for a sec.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Put it in reverse for the whole time you are sitting at the light

Huckleberry wrote: In reply to EastCoastMojo: Put it in reverse for the whole time you are sitting at the light

If you've got an automatic you can throw it in reverse, hold the brake in and lightly modulator the gas pedal. The car will squat and make them Shiite their pants thinking at any moment your vehicle will back into them.

In practice, the sticker idea should be OK. I fear the driver is creating evidence against themselves should there ever be litigation regarding their driving. Imagine the driver is rear-ended. On the stand: "Is this your car in this photo? And is this your bumper sticker? Would you read your bumper sticker for the court please?"

Semi-related: I don't need the automatic hill hold, but my car has it. I can drive well enough, and it's pretty flat here. I hate it. Having a computer randomly tie your car to a boat anchor when you try to pull away isn't great.

EastCoastMojo wrote: I have been known to let my truck roll backwards on purpose when people pull up within inches, especially if they just spent the last 2 miles tailgating. I just like to see their eyeballs get big for a sec.

Exactly.