Dumb Criminals of the Day: Carjackers failed to steal Corvette because they couldn't drive stick. - Polidicks

[url]http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/29/16759522-carjackers-unable-to-drive-stick-shift-fail-to-steal-corvette?lite[/url] [quote]"The guy started screaming at me, 'How do I start the car?'" Bean told WKMG. Finally, the other guy, still holding Bean at gunpoint, hollered back, “It’s a stick!” “I had to tell him four different times that you have to push in the clutch because it’s a standard transmission,” Bean told myfoxorlando.com.[/quote]

Is the stick shift really that unknown south of the 49th?

I'm 100% positive this is old.

They tried to steal Mr. Bean's car? Does this mean there is going to be another Mr. Bean movie?!

[i]"Why the fuck are there three pedals?!"[/i]

Or there was a story that was exactly the same deal last year.

[QUOTE=MIPS;39409752]Is the stick shift really that unknown south of the 49th?[/QUOTE] sticks are still very common, but that doesn't mean everyone knows how to drive them.

[QUOTE=MIPS;39409752]Is the stick shift really that unknown south of the 49th?[/QUOTE] is that skytrain of yours stick shift or what

[QUOTE=MIPS;39409752]Is the stick shift really that unknown south of the 49th?[/QUOTE] sorta. less and less people drive manuals these days and fewer people bother to learn manual when they could just buy an automatic instead.

[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;39410176]sticks are still very common, but that doesn't mean everyone knows how to drive them.[/QUOTE] Most people should know they exist though

[QUOTE=MIPS;39409752]Is the stick shift really that unknown south of the 49th?[/QUOTE] no. criminals are just the lowest common denominator in any given population. they're idiots

[QUOTE=Del91;39409758]I'm 100% positive this is old.[/QUOTE] Didn't even bother to read the dates on the sources eh?

[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;39410696]no. criminals are just the lowest common denominator in any given population. they're idiots[/QUOTE] What about the criminals who get away with it They're smarter than me, I can't even get away with swiping pens from work

[QUOTE=Zeke129;39410953]What about the criminals who get away with it They're smarter than me, I can't even get away with swiping pens from work[/QUOTE] that's because you're an even lower common denominator

[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;39411232]that's because you're an even lower common denominator[/QUOTE] please stop doing math this thread is about cars

[QUOTE=Zeke129;39411293]please stop doing math this thread is about cars[/QUOTE] you're the lowest denominator there is, zeke.

And this is why I give cero fucks about my car being stolen. I drive manual exclusively, and if thieves can't drive it, thieves can't steal it.[QUOTE=MIPS;39409752]Is the stick shift really that unknown south of the 49th?[/QUOTE] It's that unknown in all of america. I don't have to worry about car theft at all because they're all I'll buy. Thieves can't steal what they can't drive, after all.

[QUOTE=TestECull;39411650]And this is why I give cero fucks about my car being stolen. I drive manual exclusively, and if thieves can't drive it, thieves can't steal it. It's that unknown in all of america. I don't have to worry about car theft at all because they're all I'll buy. Thieves can't steal what they can't drive, after all.[/QUOTE] Watch your car get stolen by the one thief who can drive stick.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;39410460]sorta. less and less people drive manuals these days and fewer people bother to learn manual when they could just buy an automatic instead.[/QUOTE] really? I only think I've been in a car with automatic transmission once or twice [editline]30th January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=TestECull;39411650]And this is why I give cero fucks about my car being stolen. I drive manual exclusively, and if thieves can't drive it, thieves can't steal it. It's that unknown in all of america. I don't have to worry about car theft at all because they're all I'll buy. Thieves can't steal what they can't drive, after all.[/QUOTE] hahahaha I hope it gets stolen

Why do you have to push the clutch the start the car? I've never heard of that. Maybe they left it in gear - the greatest anti-theft (and conveniently anti-roll) strategy of all time.

nah some newer cars wont start if you don't push the clutch in for some reason.

[QUOTE=Psygo;39413225]nah some newer cars wont start if you don't push the clutch in for some reason.[/QUOTE] Not really newer cars imo. I have a 1998 ranger, I almost laughed out loud when the person I bought it from tried to start it again without pushing in the clutch. He started cursing at it and wondering why it wasn't getting gas. Also you should never park your car in neutral, so even if you could start it without being in a gear it shouldn't be an issue that ever comes up.

[QUOTE=Psygo;39413225]nah some newer cars wont start if you don't push the clutch in for some reason.[/QUOTE] Its a safety and "idiot-proofing" thing. Its so the engine doesn't propel the car forward if it happened to still be in gear. Similar to why you have to press the brake to shift out of park in an automatic or be in park/neutral to start.

Love my six-speed Miata.

Manual isn't hard to drive at all, it's also funner. Shame so few people seem to know how to use them.

I've never driven an automatic yet, are manual transmission cars that rare in the US? Manuals are the most common cars in germany :S

OK, I can understand not being [I]good[/I] at driving a stick, but being completely foreign to the idea of a manual? I'm an American with an automatic car and even I can drive a stick. I'm not great at it, but I can do it, and I certainly have.

I know a girl who drives an automatic here in Ireland, and she describes it as a big go-kart. She never took a single driving lesson or anything and she's absolutely fine. The downside is she's going to have to take her test again if she gets a manual.

Manuals are immeasurably better.

Manuals are better because I feel like I'm in control of the car. However, the streets of San Francisco made me very, very, VERY glad the rental car was an automatic.