Years later, I don’t think her driving has meaningfully improved.
To be fair, it is a bit older, so perhaps modern transmissions are significantly better, but any rentals I've driven were even worse, though they were lower class cars.
One of my vehicles even has the tranny cooler and the radiator in one unit and is prone to cracking, leading to running radiator fluid through your gearbox, destroying it. The first thing I did was install an external cooler, as the market was big enough for an aftermarket kit for such a part.
Cars are getting so much worse.
Other than that, it’s far less about logic, and more about the feeling of control and mastery that it gives you. True, this feeling is largely more inefficient and more prone to failure than an automatic system, but that feeling, man; that feeling is just so great!
I also live in a wintery country, with many winding roads, hills and mountains with diverse weather and road conditions. The argument was made that it’s better to drive “stick” under these conditions. However, I’m not sure the argument that manual is better for diverse conditions will hold for long, given the current advent of better AI.
I’ve already seen AI drive in very hilly and adverse terrain in the Hollywood Hills, rife with bushes hanging over junctions and pedestrians popping in and out of parked cars, and so on. Naturally, not much ice up there, but that’s a pretty difficult landscape for an AI to master, and the AI already masters it pretty well!
I think this would depend on the environment. If you live in a dry, relatively flat area and you mostly drive there, you're probably right, marginal difference in road safety.
But if you live in a country that has long winters or lots of mountains, having control over the engine is a integral part of staying safe on the roads.
You take a theory exam (which you actually do have to study a bit for) on the rules of driving.
This gets you a learning permission, that allows you to drive but only with a fully licences driver in the car supervising.
You then have to take a minimum of 12 driving lessons with an approved instructor, recorded in a log book, before you can take the driving practical exam.
You then take the driving practical exam, which involves driving in the approved fashion around a public area. This has a surprisingly high failure rate - "wrong hand position" on wheel, not looking around enough, looking around too much, etc all will get you a fail.
Assuming you pass, you are then a "novice" driver (have to display "N" plates) for two years and pay an incredibly high insurance premium.
Despite all this "barriers to entry", most people here are terrible drivers lol