Oh, that is just so silly. How do you think, for example, people with manual transmission cars have been able to drive at 120+ mph speeds, shifting gears all the time, on the Autobahn each and every day for the last 50+ years? Newton's first law of motion ring a bell?
There’s a big difference between controlling a car at a high speed which the driver has chosen as being appropriate for the road and traffic, and controlling a car which has chosen its own high speed that’s much higher than the driver would have chosen for the circumstances. And then consider that many people have never driven a manual transmission, and wouldn’t have good coordination for steering and shifting gears at the same time, while the car is speeding and needing to be swerved to avoid hitting vehicles in front of it.
Now I don’t think that’s what happened in this case. I heard the tape of the guy’s 911 call, and even without the other info that’s been coming out about the forensic examination and testing of the car, I’m 100% sure he was faking. He was absurdly calm throughout the call and didn’t sound as if he had any sense of urgency at all.