What drivers used to know - shift out of gear at red lights
Nowadays, hardly anyone changes the clutch on their modern car, either because they may not shift gears by hand anyway, or because clutches nowadays last practically the whole life of the car.
This used to be different and the most sensitive part of the clutch was often not the worn clutch disk that caused problems, but the so-called "release bearing". This bearing absorbs the entire force of the clutch spring when the clutch is depressed, but is not actually dimensioned for long loads, but only for brief use when shifting gears or starting off.
This is why drivers used to shift into neutral out of caution when a longer waiting phase was required. And in this way they protected the release bearing.
But which driver still knows this today? If you then put these people in a classic car, they treat it in the same way as they learn in driving school today: they wait at the traffic lights with first gear engaged, for minutes if necessary. Poor release bearing!
Do you know of similar earlier driving habits and cautionary names that have been forgotten? We can well imagine a small series appearing here in loose succession and are of course always happy to receive suggestions .
