Manual transmissions are becoming increasingly rare, but it turns out they’re also an effective anti-theft system.
As noticed by The Drive, two teenage carjackers were recently thwarted by a stick shift in Nashville, Tennessee. According to the city’s Midtown Hills Precinct, the two teens – ages 15 and 17 – started their crime spree at approximately 6:20 pm on Wednesday.
Police say the teens were at the Hill Center parking garage and noticed a woman sitting inside her vehicle. They alleged rushed up to her car and opened both front doors simultaneously. The teens began yelling for the woman to get out of the car and then attempted to pull her from the vehicle.
The woman started screaming and held down the horn to get the attention of other people. This scared the teens off and they ran away.
The teens didn’t learn their lesson and, an hour later, they attempted to carjack a woman at Kroger. As the woman was walking into the store, the teens grabbed the car keys out of her hand and got into the victim’s vehicle.
Thankfully, the woman drove a car with a manual transmission and they had no clue how to operate it. According to police, the teens exited the car “after a few seconds” and ran away.
Shortly afterwards, the teens were spotted by officers who took them into custody. Both are now facing a number of charges including attempted robbery / carjacking, theft of property and attempted theft of a vehicle.
This isn’t the first time car thieves have been stopped by a manual transmission and it likely won’t be the last.