I grew up driving a manual transmission (a stick shift), so I’m familiar with the challenges of driving with a clutch.  Perhaps the most-feared place to drive a stick shift is when you have to start moving while on an uphill grade.  In my travels, there’s such a place – a well-traveled road that climbs a nice hill with a stoplight.  Most of the time it isn’t a problem since I drive that street in my minivan.  One day, I needed to drive my truck, and I feared stalling when the light turned green.  If I did, what would I do?  How would it affect other drivers?

I got lucky.  Even though there was traffic, as I was approached the intersection, the light changed and I didn’t have to stop.  As I drove through the intersection, I looked around and saw that with a minor change in my route, I could take the cross street there there isn’t a hill.  I’d have to wait for traffic, but that may be better than risking a stall on the hill.

Everyone has situations that they fear, where there’s a risk of inconvenience or accident.  Whenever we face these situations, prepare for them the best you can, and if possible look for changes you can make that will help everyone…

Be Safe!

Keith Steele