Driving Stick Shift and ADHD
Driving
This post is an excerpt from a story I originally published on Medium, titled Adventures in Stick Shift Driving: An ADHD Story. The full version is a 14-minute read and covers my personal journey with driving—how I avoided it for years due to fear, doubt, and lack of confidence, and my recent experience learning to drive a manual transmission (stick shift) car.
The ADHD brain and driving
Research suggests that people with ADHD may be at a higher risk of getting into accidents. Through my own driving journey, I’ve recognized several ways in which ADHD has influenced my experience behind the wheel. I probably should have recognized these years ago, given that I didn’t know that I had ADHD until I was in my early 20s:
ADHD contributed to my driving anxiety. Spatial awareness and executive function challenges made driving more difficult than it might be for others.
The ADHD brain fixates on mistakes. If I make a driving error, I tend to obsess over it rather than moving on and staying focused on the rest of the drive.
Anxiety causes forgetfulness. When I first started practicing after my lessons, I often forgot specific steps. My driving instructor had warned me this could happen, but in the moment, panic made it worse.
Most of the literature I’ve read about ADHD and driving is aimed at parents of teenagers, offering advice like:
Limit distractions:
Avoid music or the radio.
No phone calls (even hands-free) or texting.
Hands off the GPS.
Limit passengers: One passenger can help as a co-pilot, but too many can be distracting.
Take a defensive driving course: I’ve done this twice—once at 16 and again recently. I genuinely believe everyone should take one every decade as a refresher.
Use cruise control: On long highway stretches, cruise control can help maintain a steady speed and reduce cognitive load.
One crucial piece of advice I’d add: Make sure you're well-rested before driving. Fatigue increases the risk of losing focus and making mistakes—whether you're neurodivergent or neurotypical.. There's a reason truck drivers have mandated rest stops. Being well-rested isn’t just about comfort; it’s about safety.
Driving Stick Shift with ADHD
Before committing to formal stick shift lessons, I came across an ADDitude Magazine podcast where a psychologist advised that people with ADHD should only drive automatic cars. Although I’d been resisting driving my boyfriend’s car out of fear, this statement felt like poor advice. The more I thought about it, the more I disagreed with that blanket advice. I read this expert’s advice two more times in two different articles. It never felt right.
I’ve known a handful of people with ADHD who love driving stick. After practicing myself, I understand why. While some argue that manual transmission requires too much focus, I believe that’s precisely why it can be beneficial for an ADHD brain. It’s possible that driving stick is better for the driver with ADHD after lots of practice. Several articles that I read after I started driving again (all anecdotal) support this.
Here are my observations:
Why Stick Shift Can Help an ADHD Brain:
Why Stick Shift Can Help an ADHD Brain:
Requires constant attention. It’s too easy to tune out on “autopilot” in an automatic car. With a manual, every moment demands focus—shifting gears, using both feet, maintaining control on inclines, and listening to the engine.
Reduces external distractions. Not listening to music isn’t just about avoiding distraction—it also allows me to hear the engine. The engine “talks” to the driver, signaling when to shift gears, or adjust the clutch. It tells the driver what gear it’s gone into.
There’s a specific sound that the gear shift makes when it clicks into Reverse, and that sound confirms that I’ve clicked into Reverse gear rather than 4th gear or 1st, depending on where Reverse is located in that car. (In my Honda Fit it’s bottom right, in my instructor’s Mazda it was bottom left. It’s a form of real-time feedback that keeps me engaged.
Encourages mindfulness. Driving stick shift requires being present in the moment. It forces me to retrain my brain, giving it a much-needed workout. In a small study conducted in 2006, participants in a simulation study reported that they were more attentive while driving in manual transmission mode but real studies are hard to find.
I still have quirks I’m working through. For example, about a month after completing five lessons (two per week) and then practicing a small handful of times with my boyfriend in the passenger seat, I still tend to turn the wheel to the right a little when I shift as if I’m trying to change gears with the steering wheel. It’s a lot to remember. Repetition is key.
The Science Behind Learning New Skills
Research suggests that learning a new skill creates new neural pathways in the brain. Neuroscientist Tara Swart, a senior lecturer at MIT, explains in her book Neuroscience for Leadership:
If you want to keep your brain agile, you need to focus on parts of the brain that you use less frequently. The new task should be challenging enough that it leaves you mentally and physically exhausted after practice, as this forces your brain to work in unfamiliar ways. This is the only way to grow new neurons strong enough to connect with existing ones and form new pathways.
That description fits my experience exactly. Learning to drive a stick shift left me mentally exhausted. After every lesson, I felt completely drained—which is one of the reasons I hesitated to take format lessons in the past. But I stuck with it, and now, I can confidently say that I’ve built new skills and stronger mental endurance in the process.
I’m retraining my brain. In doing so, I’m giving my brain exercise it needs, working in a way that my brain is unaccustomed to.
Read the entire story on Medium to read those status updates and more.
Originally published to my old website on August 23, 2018. Republished here with edits for clarity and formatting.