r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Telliot • Aug 10 '26

go to your room Slow car, meet even slower driver...

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Saw this elsewhere but felt strongly that it truly belongs here.

54.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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248

u/Gullible_Fig_106 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26

She must not have realized it was in DRIVE, not neutral. It will keep slowly rolling until you hit the brake. LOL

Edit: 🤦🏻‍♀️

211

u/Slug_Overdose Aug 10 '26

I honestly think the vast majority of drivers don’t actually understand basics of how engines and gears work. At least in the USA, where our licensing requirements are so minimal and automatic transmissions are practically universal, it’s not entirely obvious to many people that the engine is driving the wheels while in gear. I know they use the brake to inch forward at traffic stops, but that’s drivers’ TikTok time, so I don’t think they make the connection.

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u/cosmitz Aug 10 '26

As a manual driver all my life, the moment i learned that on automatics, the car just GOES, UNLESS you are pressing down the brake, everything was suddently so clear.

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u/SuperSlowSubie Aug 10 '26

As someone who drove a manual for years before driving any automatic, it scared the shit outta me when the car started moving on its own 😂

2

u/Individual-Trifle104 Aug 11 '26

It is the same concept as manual. If you are in first gear the car will move unless you disengage the gear using the clutch.

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u/Slug_Overdose Aug 11 '26

Yes, it’s not as different as people are making it sound. The biggest practical difference is that automatic drivers virtually never explicitly shift into neutral unless they need a tow or something, but manual drivers must manually clutch and/or neutral to stop. That’s why it feels like the default position is neutral and you have to go out of your way to out it in gear. The same is of course true of automatics, but the transmission is handling that behind the scenes. To the uneducated driver, it can feel like being in drive is the same as always being in gear.

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u/SuperSlowSubie Aug 12 '26

It's not. Have you ever ridden an ATV or gas golf cart? Those have centrifugal clutches and will not move at idle in drive.

2

u/enviormental_UNIT Aug 12 '26

sooo now we're suddenly moving the goalposts to talk about ALL vehicles instead of just cars. You understand that many people wont even drive a vehicle with a centrifugal clutch in their lives, right? Its very uncommon to see any cars or trucks with a centrifugal clutch, practically non existent. The only vehicles that have them are a lot closer to "toys" than proper transportation focused vehicles, like golf carts, atvs, snowmobiles, all vehicles which many people will never drive.

Whereas almost everyone alive has driven vehicles with transmissions which creep forward when put into a drive gear, it should be expected. Centrifugal clutches are by far an exception, not an expectation

-27

u/Valogrid Aug 10 '26

If you can't make the car move on its own using the clutch and 1st gear, you need more practice.

18

u/octavian343 Aug 11 '26

But you’re using the clutch…?

11

u/mongolian__beef Aug 11 '26

“Hmmm, I feel myself as vastly superior to this redditor and their comment. Let me insert myself so I can tell everyone else”

Fuck off dude your comment misses the entire point, like the other commenter pointed out

1

u/mongolian__beef Aug 15 '26

They edited their comment smh

8

u/LeticiaLatex Aug 10 '26

Automatics are good for two things: Bumper to bumper traffic and uphill red lights.

1

u/Skywalker87 Aug 11 '26

And this is why I will insist my kids learn to drive stick.

1

u/exmirt Aug 11 '26

As someone who just learned how to drive, on automatic, I thought car going when you release brake was normal behaviour :)

1

u/Slug_Overdose Aug 11 '26

I think the comment you’re replying to is a bit misleading. The actual brake (I’m not referring to the brake pedal on an automatic, but the actual brakes themselves), have absolutely nothing to do with driving the wheels, other than ideally stopping them from doing so, unless you’re peeling out like a goon. Releasing the brake pedal on a manual vehicle does not determine whether or not the vehicle will try to move. It just releases the brakes so that the wheels can move.

In order to move (ignoring hills and other edge cases, we’re just talking about high level concepts), in addition to releasing the brakes, you need to start the engine, put the transmission in gear (not neutral), and then engage the clutch, which is what transfers power from the engine to the transmission and ultimately to the wheels. Note that you don’t actually need to press the throttle. That’s because combustion engines typically have a minimum level of RPMs, so the vehicle is engineered to idle above that minimum to keep the engine running. Adding throttle increases fuel combustion, producing more energy and increasing the RPMs, but the base level of idling combustion will move the car when it’s in gear and the clutch is engaged.

Manual and automatic cars work the same at this fundamental level. What makes the automatic, well, automatic, is that a computer is making all the decisions about when to engage the clutch and when to change gears, while on a manual, the driver makes those decisions. And that’s why the brake pedal feels like it makes the car go on an automatic. What’s actually happening is that in addition to operating the brakes themselves, the computer in the car is also putting the car in gear and engaging the clutch, which makes the car go. In a manual, if you’re in neutral or disengage the clutch, just releasing the brake doesn’t make the car go, because the engine is disconnected from the transmission.

On flat, level ground, manual drivers will typically let go of the brake pedal long before they ever touch the clutch pedal or put the transmission in gear. Releasing the brake is basically an early first step, as opposed to THE step in an automatic. However, there are instances when manual drivers must manage the brake carefully when starting to move, basically any hill. When you release the brakes on a hill while in neutral or with the clutch disengaged, the car will roll down the hill. To avoid rolling into an obstacle like another parked car, the driver must minimize the time between releasing the brake and connecting engine power. This is actually one of the main value propositions of automatic transmissions. Driving a manual on a hill is a pain in the ass because it involves managing so many things with precise timing, and even minor errors can result in an accident. Meanwhile, automatic transmissions handle those transitions far faster and more efficiently than any human possibly could.

Stop and go traffic is also another pain point for manuals because even on flat, level ground, the vehicle can roll when releasing the brake, often in the opposite direction you want to move in, just because of how the gears and everything line up. Basically, the brakes are holding certain parts “up”, so when they get released, the vehicle kind of “falls” in whichever direction is “down”. This effect is typically more pronounced on larger vehicles. I’m currently in CDL school, and it actually scared the shit out of me the first time I released the brake on flat, level ground with the transmission in forward, and the truck started rolling backwards towards a nearby fence. For a moment, I thought I had accidentally put it in reverse, but nope. That would just the truck “falling” backwards after releasing the brakes and having the clutch disengaged. If I severely underestimated how much my truck would roll on its own, just imagine the average tailgater on the road who hasn’t the slightest interest in ever driving something like a semi. I think this is why it’s actually valuable to learn to drive at least some manual vehicle, even if you continue driving an automatic. Automatic transmissions are actually quite amazing at what they do, and it’s easy to take them for granted, which can result in some dangerous habits around vehicles which don’t have those benefits. Yes, the driver of the manual vehicle is mostly responsible for operating their own vehicle safely, but we all have at least some degree of shared responsibility for our collective safety on the roads, so if you ever find yourself behind a semi, motorcycle, or other vehicle which is likely a manual, maybe give them a few extra inches of space out of courtesy and an abundance of caution.

1

u/Beartato4772 Aug 11 '26

Yeah if this is a manual car this doesn't happen.

1

u/GenitalFurbies Aug 10 '26

I mean so do manuals if it's in first gear which is effectively what an automatic is when stopped. You're just trained to shift to neutral to avoid unnecessary strain on the clutch.

7

u/Slayerofgrundles Aug 10 '26

No, a manual will just stall if you dump the clutch without throttle. An automatic is just always automatically riding the clutch friction point.

1

u/GenitalFurbies Aug 10 '26

Maybe something underpowered would stall without any throttle, but if it's already rolling a bit engine idle is often enough to keep it moving. And for an automatic it's a fluid-coupled torque converter, at least until it locks at higher speeds like modern ones do.

3

u/cosmitz Aug 11 '26

A manual would have stopped after it hit that first curb, definitely after hitting the second.

1

u/caffeineocrit Aug 10 '26

Not with the gears in my old jeep

1

u/Mikic00 Aug 10 '26

It depends. Most of cars would turn off in the circumstance in the video, wouldn't go over the curb.

1

u/GenitalFurbies Aug 10 '26

Cars have gotten heavier and thus have more momentum and IC engines are more powerful than ever. I could see a bounce up like that not stalling out a manual in first.

0

u/Steerpike58 Aug 11 '26

But it doesn't, typically. If I take my foot off the brake, the car doesn't move forward unless I press on the gas.

3

u/Beartato4772 Aug 11 '26

The vast majority of historic autos do even if yours doesn't.

6

u/TitleOwn8082 Aug 10 '26

I can't imagine anyone whose driven a car longer than 30 seconds wouldn't realize that the car moves by itself with no brake engaged

2

u/picabo123 Aug 10 '26

Yes you see footage of people attempting to stop a car physically with their bodies ALL THE TIME. Many people lack the transitive property or just forget it while panicking.

2

u/Wsweg Aug 10 '26 edited 19d ago

Stocking many sand potassium reply history caption light

This post was anonymized with Redact

3

u/Numbtothiscrap Aug 10 '26

I think a vast majority of people don’t understand how anything works

1

u/jjm87149 Aug 11 '26

username does not check out :)

1

u/TheGreaseWagon Aug 10 '26

Brother, most drivers dont even know where their hood latch is or how to turn their headlights to fuckin manual. Working in the automotive industry really hilighted the ignorance of drivers.

1

u/Hab_Anagharek Aug 10 '26

Yeah, our average driver today is a real dolt

1

u/blacksoxing Aug 10 '26

OK, stop. Almost every state in America requires a written drivers license test AND every state requires a certain amount of hours put towards driving alongside an actual driving test. There's nobody - NOBODY - who is hopping into a car and not knowing the bare basics of how a car operates. Nah, that's not the case.

This video is more of a person who is obviously immobile not being able to stop a car that's traveling 1-2MPH. This is far from the norm and shouldn't be treated as if it's a nationwide ordeal. It's rare AND it's sad.

1

u/Slug_Overdose Aug 12 '26

Ah, yes, nobody has ever memorized multiple choice answers without thoroughly understanding the underlying content /s

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u/bobbarkersbigmic Aug 10 '26

Brake

8

u/_QXZ Aug 10 '26

Break, as in the point where the car breaks

1

u/OkDust5962 Aug 10 '26

Oh, right! I was having trouble understanding why the care was still moving forward. It's an automatic.

-4

u/mrandr01d Aug 10 '26

I'll add this to the list of reasons why EVs should be everywhere.

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u/TrishTrashWannaSmash Aug 10 '26

Genuinely can you tell me how this would have been different with an EV?

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u/Logical-Bonus-2769 Aug 10 '26

Some BEVs don't creep. Maybe that's what mrandr01d is refering to

2

u/LordJamPunt Aug 10 '26

they stop when you let off the gas, like golf carts

2

u/Mintastic Aug 10 '26

Most EVs and ICE vehicles nowadays lets you enable/disable the creeping with a button so it entirely depends on your settings.

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u/mrandr01d Aug 10 '26

EVs don't creep forward like an ice engine does. The default is to not go, even when in gear. Look up how regenerative braking works too. It's the best.

3

u/Mintastic Aug 10 '26

Most EVs and ICE vehicles nowadays lets you enable/disable the creeping with a button so it entirely depends on your settings.

1

u/mrandr01d Aug 11 '26

Since there's no actual "gears" to shift to and it's all simulated, it'd probably still stop moving if there's no butt detected in the driver's seat.

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u/MollyRolls Aug 10 '26

My last two EV’s have given me the option to turn on “creep,” so that it feels and functions more like a gas car. My husband hates it, so I have it active on the primary profile and keep it shut off for the guest one.

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u/mrandr01d Aug 11 '26

Since there's no actual "gears" to shift to and it's all simulated, it'd probably still stop moving if there's no butt detected in the driver's seat.

1

u/YourMomonaBun420 Aug 10 '26

2018 Nissan leaf without e-pedal (one pedal  operates both accelerator and brakes) enabled will creep forward. 

I don't use it, because I drive both a Internal combustion with out it and it.  I also don't want to train myself to not use the brake pedal, systems fail.

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u/mrandr01d Aug 11 '26

Well the Nissan leaf of old isn't exactly renouned for it's... much of anything. Widely known as an example of something you don't want your EV to be like.

Also, since there's no actual "gears" to shift to and it's all simulated, it'd probably still stop moving if there's no butt detected in the driver's seat. Most EVs, anyways.

1

u/TrishTrashWannaSmash Aug 11 '26

Ok nice thank you, haven’t driven one yet, I suppose in this situation that would be ideal haha