> Even if you don't intend to go racing, a manual is just a bit more interesting and keeps you paying attention the whole trip
I'd rather pay attention to my surroundings than to the clutch. This goes for both day to day stuff (where it's better for safety), and pleasure road trips (where this lets you enjoy the scenery).
For the most part, the automatic is simply "good enough". And in US there's no peer pressure to drive the stick. Between those two things, it ends up being something reserved for people who really want that extra oomph - and they usually do it in cars specifically designed for it. Well, and immigrants.
I think that is part of the issue though. The scenery really isn't where your mind should be while driving, simply looking to the side for 5 seconds is enough distraction to cause an accident.
I think for an already attentive driver it might be okay, but I would argue that a manual transmission would force people who are in the habit of being distracted to pay more attention. For one, you can't hold a phone very well while changing gears from a stop.
You eventually don't pay attention to the controls, just like you don't think much about the actual steering wheel. But you do have to be constantly aware of the situation you are in order to have the data to tell your subconcious to select the right gear, or to coast and such. You are constantly paying attention to stop lights for example, because if you don't you won't be in gear and you will get a toot for taking too long to react. The same applies for more complex situations like driving in thick traffic. You can't rely on a quick glance to know to slow down, you have to know ahead of time which gear to be in so you tend to watch what's happening more closely.
I have no studies to link unfortunately so this is of course just an anecdote..
I feel like most of the discussion on this topic is anecdotes, spiced up by cultural stereotypes.
I'm originally from a European country where the stick is prevalent, and pretty much had to learn to drive it (and hated it) - while driving exam could be passed with automatic in theory, there were simply no cars available (and you couldn't supply your own).
That said, people there weren't really particularly opinionated about it one way or another. There was some mild form of sexism, along the lines of "auto is for girls", but I think it was more an extension of the general car-related sexism in that country.
I then lived in New Zealand, Canada and US for a while. All of them have autos dominate - less so in NZ, more in Canada and especially US. But no-one really makes a big deal of it. If you drive the stick, no-one will taunt you for showing off, for example, the way people do with other stuff. It's just a slightly unusual choice.
On the other hand, I noticed that many European immigrants have a decidedly snobby attitude towards auto. They don't just prefer the stick - they're like vegetarians who have to make a point of some innate superiority of their choice, and disparage the other option - not even rationally, but on the level of, "Americans are just too dumb to learn this stuff".
And I think that this, more than anything else, kinda muddies up meaningful discussion (with studies etc) on this subject. It's such a strong part of cultural identity for some, that even starting a conversation on it is inviting flame. Note how my first post in this thread is at 0, even though it was purely about sharing my personal experience as a data point, and not saying that it applies to other people.
For the most part, I think people should just choose what they feel makes most sense for them, and refrain from judging the choices of others. The differences really aren't that big or that important beyond subjective personal experience.
I'd rather pay attention to my surroundings than to the clutch. This goes for both day to day stuff (where it's better for safety), and pleasure road trips (where this lets you enjoy the scenery).
For the most part, the automatic is simply "good enough". And in US there's no peer pressure to drive the stick. Between those two things, it ends up being something reserved for people who really want that extra oomph - and they usually do it in cars specifically designed for it. Well, and immigrants.