I drive a manual. I couldn't say whether it's made me a safer driver, but I do believe it's given me a much greater awareness of my speed at all times (for shifting to the correct gear).
This is one of the biggest reasons I prefer manual transmissions. I almost never have to look down at the speedometer. I know basically how fast I'm going, and I can keep a constant speed. In an automatic I always find myself going _way_ over the limit without realising it, and I'm constantly looking down at the dash to check my speed and hitting the brakes. It's a terrible experience.
My last car was an automatic, but it would get out of alignment very quickly and I could gauge my speed on the highway by how much the steering wheel vibrated. Whenever I got it aligned I caught myself speeding constantly because that feedback was gone.
I think it does, for the simple fact you don't have a free hand in normal city driving.
I drive stick... have since my early 20s. I'm ashamed to admit... you can still text and drive. I don't anymore but that's not even the stupidest thing I've done, steering with my knee. Skilled drivers aren't always good drivers, but skilled drivers can free up a hand or two
Eating while driving a manual transmission is one thing, but I've never understood how anyone can literally text and drive. I can imagine getting a ticket because I was using the touchscreen to navigate, but not actually typing a message, because I just couldn't do it. Maybe I'm too old. Or maybe I put too much thought into my messages.
It was easier before T9 predictive text.
That's an excellent point. I may not know my speed precisely, but I know it generally, and I'm also constantly aware of how busy the engine is from the revs and the noise. I can't ignore these things; I have to know when to shift!