Last Tuesday, a pair of armed thieves failed to steal a car in Melbourne. The reason? The car was fitted with a manual transmission.
According to Victoria Police, the thirty-year-old victim was returning to his home in Melbourne when two men threatened to rob him. One man, holding a knife, demanded the victim to hand over his wallet and car keys.
The victim complied and tossed his personal belongings. However, as the villains continued their mission, their getaway plan failed immensely. Police say the pair tried to steal the car, yet were unable to start it as the victim’s Hyundai i20 was a manual transmission.
A police spokesperson told News Corp:
“(Detectives) think that these two crooks might have only had an automatic licence,”
The thieves fled from the scene following the failed carjacking. Authorities are still investigating the situation. Anyone on or near Tovan Akas Avenue at 3:30 on Monday (May 3) morning with potential information is encouraged to contact the police.
The Manual Decline
The number of people opting for manual vehicles in Australia has been declining recently.
Figures from CarAdvice indicate the Toyota Corolla- Australia’s top-selling vehicle— has seen a decline in demands for a manual transmission. Meanwhile, CarAdvice adds the demand for manual Corolla hatches dropped by 80 percent from 2015-2019.
A spokesperson for the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) had this to say about the matter:
“In the last 10 years we’ve seen a steady decline in people requesting manual RACV Drive School lessons. Requests for manual Drive School cars have been trending down from 38 percent of requests in 2010 to just 12 percent of requests in 2019.”
We don’t condone carjacking… but maybe we should learn how to drive Manual?
Dharma is a writer and creator based in San Diego.
