Saw something odd today: a car with STICK SHIFT painted on the back of the trunk. I wondered why they painted that on their car? The only explanation I can think of, off the top of my head, is to get people not to pull up so damned close when stopped on a hill. But then wouldn't "Stick Shift: STAY BACK" work better?
I have found that those who have never driven a stick have no idea of the tendency to roll when starting on an incline, and simply don't know how stupid (and risky, and rude) it is to pull up three inches behind the car in front of you on a hill. Then again, even if they did know most of them would probably do it anyway.
When I first learned to drive stick and still felt panic at having to start on a hill with a car behind me, a good friend advised me to watch for a car pulling up behind me, and roll back about a foot just as they got close. That would make it look like I was a bad or at least unpredictable driver, which would scare them into giving me a lot of room. I found it worked well, but only if they were paying attention. If they were thoroughly inattentive drivers and didn't notice, then I was just making it worse for myself by closing the gap even further.
When Georg learned to drive UMJ, I never could think of a better strategy for dealing with that particular problem. Which I do think is the hardest part of driving a manual transmission. We decided that if he had to stop on a hill, he'd just pull off to the shoulder and we'd switch places so I could do that part. Since he only ever drives UMJ on the highway on road trips, it hasn't even happened yet.
In Britain, where almost all cars are stick shifts, people use their handbrake more or less every time they stop. Not just on hills, to prevent rolling back, but at red lights on flat terrain. It's very odd. And I think you can actually fail your driving test for not putting the handbrake on every time your car is stationary.
I never heard of that before. Do you take the handbrake off after you've put the car in gear, as you're starting to hit the gas?
I learned how to drive on a manual transmission and every car I've ever owned has been one. I'm still startled every time I see someone get out of their car without putting on the handbrake, and have to remind myself that they don't have to do that with an automatic.
When I drove a stick (all through college, you may recall), I used the handbrake as a supplement to the clutch. You ease off the handbrake as you ease in the clutch and put on the gas, so that the engine starts to pull you forward as the brake stops holding you in place. That way, you avoid the "I need three feet" scenario entirely.