Self Driven Vehicles versus Manual Driving Vehicles

This paper explores the benefits of automatic vehicles over manual vehicles and the preferences of drivers. It discusses the transmission system, advantages of both types of vehicles, and the opinions of drivers in Kenya. The study concludes that while manual transmission vehicles are still preferred by many, automatic vehicles are gaining popularity due to their safety, comfort, and low fuel consumption.

SELF DRIVEN VEHICLES VERSUS MANUAL DRIVING VEHICLES
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Abstract
Due to technological advances in the
automobile industry, most manual driven
vehicles are being converted to automatic
ones with a variety of benefits derived
from them. The most important part that
has been modified to fit the requirements
of many people is the transmission system.
This paper looks at the views of drivers on
the benefits of automatic vehicles over
manual vehicles. The data used was
collected from 1300 people including
drivers and vehicle owners. This data was
randomly collected through interviews,
surveys, and discussions. The research
showed that manual driven vehicles were
few in Kenya with self-driven one's
existence becoming a preference in the
country. Interestingly, automatic vehicles
were the preference of females than males.
This was contributed by three factors
namely; quality, ease of operation, and
performance. On the other hand, manual
transmission vehicles are known by their
reliability and ease of repair. Other
advantages manual vehicles include low
fuel consumption and ruggedness. The
conclusion of the study is that manual
transmission vehicles are still the

preference of many people as opposed to
automatic ones although automatic
vehicles are speedily encroaching into the
lifestyle of many as time moves.
Key words
Self- driving vehicles; manual driving
vehicles; automatic gears; manual gears.
1. Introduction
Growth in technology has made it easy to
transform manual vehicles into automatic
vehicles as per the preference of many
users. One of the parts that have been
shown as easier to convert is the
transmission system. However, studies
indicate that manual transmission engines
were the first to be seen around [1]. There
have been improvements to improve the
transmission systems of vehicles to
accommodate the automatic features in the
vehicles and to meet the preference of
many users. Majority of vehicles being
manufactured currently are of automatic
gears irrespective of manual transmission
gears that are slowly diminishing from the
market. The automatic vehicles have been
made for the achievement of safety,
comfort, reliability and low fuel
consumption [9]. The benefits have made
the automatic geared vehicles mostly
preferred for light duties. The fact that
automatic vehicles do not use diesel
engines, their emissions are also reduced
compared to manual ones whose emissions
are greater. The manufacturing industries
have categorized automatic vehicles into
three types namely based on a hydro
transformer and planet gear, chain
mechanism plus planet gear, and specially
equipped double coupler with cylindrical
gear [2]. It is true that vehicles with
manual gears are strong and robust; they
can be used in rough places and can
withstand rough handling than their self-
driving counterparts [11]. Additionally,
manually driven cars comparatively cost
more than automatic ones. They also have
low maintenance, low fuel consumption,
as well as saving on repair cost. However,

for economy purposes, automatic vehicles
are the better option for many people. It is
also important to note that in manual
vehicles, drivers have full control of the
vehicle and less distraction as compared to
self- driven vehicles which drivers may be
distracted because they have few activities
to do to make the vehicle to move [4]. This
is because in manual vehicles the driver
always has his or her hands and legs
engaged on the steering wheel and brakes
and gears respectively hence, fewer
distractions. It is now evident that the
manufacturing and use of self-driven
vehicles are on the rise in both developing
and developed countries [8]. Therefore, the
question is whether to choose the manual
or automatic vehicle. This paper thus looks
at the views of people on their preferred
choice in Kenya.
2. Methodology
2.1 Area of Study
The survey was carried out in three big
towns in Kenya where an interview was
done to drivers. These three cities are
known to be busy cities in terms of
business and the population is high. In
addition, these cities are known to be
having a lot of transport activities and this
has led to the creation of many transport
organizations that manage the transport
sector [12]. Due to this overwhelming
transport business, importation of new and
used vehicles has become the order of the
day. Although personal vehicles are also
owned by many people, a lot of vehicles
both for personal and commercial use are
involved in business activities. Therefore,
the competition that exists between the
businesses has made the manufactures
invent new models of vehicles that would
fit the preference of business people [6].
The technology has, therefore, come up
with new vehicles that are now used to
transport passengers within the towns in
Kenya. Some of the vehicles that were
used in these cities include ford, wagon,
and Toyota minibusses.

2.2 Data collection techniques
The collection of data was done through
varied methods. This was done to ensure
the strengths and weaknesses of each
method are integrated. Using a multi-
approach technique is important because
there is no technique that is superior over
another, each individual technique has its
own weaknesses and strengths. These data
collection techniques, therefore, are
interrelated and should be applied
collaboratively. This approach led to
increased validity of the data collected as
well as increased depth of research. The
data collection techniques used in this
paper is highlighted below:
2.2.1 Survey
There were questionnaires that were
developed and given to drivers or users
who have had the opportunity to drive both
manual and automatic vehicles. The
questionnaires were constructed both for
the closed end and open end sets to help
achieve the required objectives. The set of
questions tested the knowledge in general,
for instance, the advantages and
disadvantages of both manual and
automatic vehicles, preference, and
challenges of each of the transmission
systems.
2.2.2 Interviews
This technique targeted the individuals
who could not find time to fill
questionnaires due to one reason or
another. Most of these respondents who
were subjected to interviews were illiterate
and could not read and write but they were
willing to participate by giving their
responses to the study. Their responses
were recorded on audio for the purposes of
evidence.
2.2.3 Group Discussions
A total of six group discussions were
conducted in the three big towns, for
instance, two in each town. The
participants were divided into gender;

numbered 6-9 resulting in an average of 7
respondents. This approach made it easy to
get a more focused group and to enhance
understanding of the issue at hand which
concerns the reasons to choose self- driven
or manual driven vehicles [2].
2.2.4 Pre-testing of the questionnaire
The testing of the questionnaire was
carried out in a town which was not among
the towns that the questionnaire was
conducted but it had the same features as
the cities that were selected for the purpose
of this research. This process was done to
clean up the questionnaire and remove
errors that may have existed in the
questions. It also helped to correct the
challenges brought by the wording of the
questionnaires. More importantly, the
process assisted the researchers to
understand whether the questions were
properly comprehended by the respondents
[13]. The whole research involves
financial spending; therefore, doing pre-
testing enables the researchers to
determine the financial requirements and
the feasibility of gathering the data.
2.4 Sampling and Sampling
procedure
Questionnaires were subjected to 1260
drivers or users who used both manual and
automatic vehicles. The selection of
respondents was a random process that
included both male and female. The
respondents also included people driving
both commercial and private vehicles.
These included people who have
experience in driving both automatic and
manual vehicles.
2.5 Data Analysis
The data collected was proof read, coded
and fed into a system with statistics
software for social sciences. Tabulation
and categorization of data were properly
done as to look the intention of the study.

3. Results and Discussion
3.1 Demographic characteristics of
respondents
The analysis of the demographic features
of respondents indicated that many males
about 81% took part in the study process
than females as shown in table 1. This is
because driving is majorly dominated by
male individuals, especially for
commercial vehicles. Female respondents
that were interviewed were mainly private
vehicle owners. The age bracket of most
respondents was 30 - 35. This was a
recommended age bracket because they
had reached the driving age which is 18
years in Kenya. Additionally, the
respondents had different driving
experiences ranging between 1 to 5 years
with both automatic and manual vehicles.
This was about 47.5%. This is important
because it shows they had enough
knowledge regarding the vehicles. The
respondents also had different classes of
driving licenses as per the policies in the
country. Some classes of driving licenses
are not allowed to drive some vehicles
[10]. For instance, class B license holders
are limited to driving small cars e.g. saloon
cars only and not big cars like trucks. The
research indicated that many respondents
held class B licence with about 55.4%.
This shows that most people drive the
small vehicles across the country and these
vehicles are self-driven ones.
Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents
Features Number of times Percentage
Gender
Male
Female
1025
232
80.4
18.5
Age of Respondents

18-26
26-30
30-36
36-40
Above 40
179
274
405
144
253
14.2
21.7
32.1
11.3
20.1
The driving experience in
years
1-5
6-10
Above 10
597
332
328
47.4
26.2
26.0
Driving Licence classes
B
C
D
E
F
698
328
121
66
47
55.3
26.4
9.4
5.0
3.5
The research indicated that almost 94% of
the respondents accepted to provide their
driving licenses before the research while
the rest 6% gave their driving licenses
during the time the researchers were on the
ground.
Table 2: Number and types of vehicles owned by respondents

Number of vehicles owned
1
2
3
Type of transmission system
Self-driven Manual driven
360 432
144 162
36 0.0
All the respondents interviewed had
experience with both automatic and
manual transmission vehicles. However, in
our finding, 60% of the respondents
preferred driving manual transmission
vehicles because the majority of them were
used to driving manual vehicles before the
introduction of automatic ones. During the
discussion, we discovered that some
respondents were alluding that the
automatic vehicles are made for females.
Interestingly, some of them could say that
men who buy automatic vehicles are
generally lazy drivers.
1
60
39
Fig 1: Responses concerning gear
transmission
1st quarter 1%- Both manual and automatic
2nd quarter 60%- Manual
3rd quarter 39% - Automatic

However, most female drivers prefer
automatic vehicles because of its security
features. They claim that automatic
vehicles provide them with the opportunity
to focus on the steering wheel rather than
engaging every part of their body as with
the manual vehicles. In contrast, those with
the preference of automatic vehicles say
that they spend much on maintaining their
vehicles. The users say that on average,
they service their automatic vehicles three
times in a year thereby making the cost of
maintenance and repair become higher as
compared to that done on manual vehicles
[1]. Precisely, the manual transmission
vehicles save on cost in the long run [7].
Other reports indicate that the clutch in
manual vehicles is the part that mostly
suffers breakdown [5]. However, other
parts may last longer before breaking
down. On average, replacement of a clutch
in manual transmission vehicles costs 100
US dollars while the cost of replacing a
clutch in self-driven vehicles is averagely
300 US dollars.
3.4 General opinions concerning both
manually driven and self-driven vehicles
The study shows that the respondents had
different opinions concerning the two
types of transmission systems. Majority of
respondents believe that manual vehicles
have many benefits over self-driven
vehicles [14]. They insisted that manual
transmission vehicles operate from only
one clutch which is easy to work with
while self-driven vehicles have many
clutches which must operate
independently. This sometimes makes it
hard to master the process and control
becomes a challenge. However, some
studies indicate that the fuel consumption
by manual transmission vehicles is higher
than that of automatic ones [3]. On
average, the self-driven vehicles will
consume about 1.71km/liter while the
manual ones will consume 1.91km/liter.
4. Conclusion
Improvement in technology has resulted in
advancement in the manufacture of

vehicles. Currently, automatic vehicles are
taking over the manual ones in the
manufacturing industries. This is because
of the perceived advantages it has over the
manual vehicles. However, the choice of a
vehicle depends on individual preference.
This research concludes that the choice of
self-driven vehicle depends on three
factors namely; ease of use, low fuel
consumption, and ease of repair. Many
respondents however preferred the manual
vehicles. Female drivers, however, prefer
automatic vehicles for the reasons
mentioned above.
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