Have we forgotten how to share the road with manual cars?

A photo of a car with a handwritten 'manual' sign in Melbourne has raised an interesting question: Do today's drivers need to be warned when a car is a manual?

While sitting in peak hour on Melbourne's Punt Road, a member of the Drive team spotted a Mk8 Volkswagen Golf with the word 'manual' scrawled on its rear windshield.

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It got our office talking – was this handwritten sign merely a bragging exercise, or was it a warning to other drivers so they could account for variations in driving style?

As anyone who has ever driven a manual car will know, they possess several attributes that vary from cars with automatic transmissions and can pose unique challenges in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Firstly, manual cars often roll back on hills or when getting moving from a standstill, meaning they can require cars behind them to leave a little extra following room.

Additionally, manual cars are occasionally slower to get moving at the traffic lights and, of course, even the most seasoned of manual drivers have a risk of stalling which could result in additional delays.

These qualities mean practices like tailgating and speeding could pose a higher risk to drivers of manual cars.

Excluding heavy vehicles, sales of cars, SUVs, utes and vans with manual transmissions made up just 3.5 per cent of total new-vehicle sales in Australia in 2023.

In fact, last year saw electric vehicle sales outpace total sales of passenger, SUV and light commercial vehicles with manual transmissions.

Today's manual market share has fallen when compared to 2022, when manuals represented 4.7 per cent of total vehicle sales – and represents a decline of more than 90 per cent when compared to manual sales a decade ago.

With fewer manual cars on our road than ever before, is it possible motorists have forgotten about the eccentricities of the manual gearbox and how to adjust their driving style accordingly?

And, further to that, should those driving cars with manual gearboxes wear special plates or signs to notify other motorists?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments and vote in our poll below!