By Takumi Oto, University of Shimane
There are two main types of cars –manual or automatic. You often have to operate a gear lever in a manual car, but in an automatic car you don’t have to. The demand for automatic cars has been increasing these days. Manual cars, however, have advantages over automatic cars. Which do you prefer to choose, manual or automatic cars?
One piece of data in 2011 from JCSA (Japan Car Seller’s Association) showed that 98.5% of cars sold are automatic. As you can see, automatic cars are quite common in Japan while most European countries have different results. You know automatic types are simpler to use than manual types if you have driven both, and that is the well-known reason why a lot of people buy the automatic ones. The gasoline costs of manual cars were less expensive than automatic ones, but car engine technology has been in progress and it has caused the automatics to catch up to the cost efficiency of the manuals. You may not buy manual cars considering this information. Manual cars, however, have some advantages greater than automatic ones.
According to Shuichi Washino, an Environmental Studies professor in Tottori University, most car accidents in Japan were caused by automatic cars and the cars’ rate of accidents per 100 cars is twice as high as those of manual cars. It’s possible to think that tons of people in Japan have bought automatic cars and the fact that the accident rate of automatic cars is high can be taken for granted, but I’d like you to look at the definition of the rate saying “per 100 cars” which is not based on the total number of cars sold. It can be that people have to focus on driving when they drive manual cars and it results in a fewer rate of accidents. On the other hand, people can enjoy driving with manual cars. When driving manual cars you often need to shift a gear lever back and forth, right and left, and a clutch pedal should be depressed every time you change a gear. Those chores might be stressful and keep you pretty busy, but getting used to it you feel what “driving” is and the moves of your car. Feeling them can be called “the exquisite taste of driving manual cars.” Moreover, manual cars prevent car-thieves and children who can’t drive manual types from driving the cars away from their owners. One news story in Japan said that a child got in an automatic car by himself and drove the car for several hundred meters. Fortunately the child didn’t get injured and the car wasn’t broken. Hopefully you’ve learned some information about manual and automatic cars you may have not known and understand those car types have their own advantages and disadvantages which attract you to have one or the other
