Driving an automatic car
H. Kishie Singh

THERE was a time when it was almost impossible to buy a manual shift car in North America. The Yank-Tanks, as they were affectionately called, had huge eight-cylinder engines, with hundreds of horses under the bonnet and could thus haul tonnes of metal with effortless ease with an automatic gearbox. That was the ultimately luxury, not having to change gears. Fuel conservation and efficiency of operation were unknown.

Strange how things change. The North Americans are moving towards gears and Indians have discovered the automatic gearbox only recently.

Driving habits have to change for using such a vehicle. There has to be an adjustment, mostly mental, to get used to the left foot not having anything to do. After years of having pumped a clutch, the left foot will not like to change a habit formed over a period of time. The left foot will twitch and look for the clutch. Form a new habit, change your driving style.

The immediate advantage of automatic drive is that the left foot is free and can be rested on the dead pedal on the floorboard. This automatically leads to a more secure and better seating position for the driver. This comfortable position plus not using the left leg is definitely driver friendly. It means less fatigue. American cars had another amazing invention: cruise control. You did not have to use the right foot on the accelerator. You got the car up to the required speed i.e. 65 km p.h, pressed a button and the car stayed at that speed, up hill and down the dale.

The minute the right foot touched the brake pedal, the cruise control got dis-engaged. The car came into normal driving mode instantly.

A very important fact in driving with an automatic gear box, which has only two pedals on the floor — accelerator and brake — is that you are not allowed to drive with two feet i.e. left for braking and right for acceleration. Only the right foot may be used. The left foot can be used to brace yourself while cornering or hard braking.

Keeping the left foot on the brake pedal could be dangerous. Through force of habit you may press down at the wrong time, causing the car to brake suddenly. This could result in a rear-end bash for your car.

While at a traffic light, especially if you are first in line and right next to the zebra crossing, it is recommended that if you are in a geared car turn to a neutral gear, put hand brake on and right foot on the foot brake. This will prevent you from accidentally moving forward and running down a pedestrian.

A car with automatic gears has a selector lever. ‘D’ allows you to drive, ‘R’ stands for reverse. There is also a ‘P’ and ‘N’. ‘N’ is for neutral which means car’s gearbox is free — it can be pushed. If you were close to a zebra crossing and in N, and you get hit from the rear, you could rocket into the pedestrian on the crossing.

At times like this, the car should be in ‘P’. This locks the gearbox. The car is secure. Should you have to pull over to the side of the road to talk on the cell phone or whatever, make sure you stick to P. It is a very important safety factor.

In any case, do not let the engine idle too long. It would be safe to switch the engine off.

A car with an automatic gearbox can be fun. However, like driving anything anywhere, obeying simple rules makes driving that much more fun.

Happy motoring !