I live in Portugal and you'll find more Gen Zers (with a drivers license) afraid of driving an automatic than a stick shift.
If you've never driven one, automatic cars feel super dangerous as you can accelerate indefinitely even when unconscious, and even in a normal situation your left foot clutch muscle memory will make you push the brake (to the floor) without meaning to as well.
My GenZer wants to learn but we literally don't know a single person who owns a manual transmission car. Well we know one but it's a cousin who lives 1500 miles away and we really only see at weddings and funerals.
If you've never driven one, automatic cars feel super dangerous as you can accelerate indefinitely even when unconscious, and even in a normal situation your left foot clutch muscle memory will make you push the brake (to the floor) without meaning to as well.