No, there is currently no option for this. If I'm using a steering wheel I just turn the driver and wheel off, or if I'm using a mouse I just leave the steering wheel on so I can see which way it's facing. I never have the driver turned on, which solves the problem for me!
How would that be done without a sensor on your (real-life) hand?
Think about it - the first signal that LFS receives to initiate such an animation would be your shift knob clicking. But clicking the shift knob changes gear, it doesn't start the animation. If the animation had to play first, all gear shifts would be delayed by a few tenths which would be completely unacceptable. Alternatively, we could have the animation play after the gear shift is already done, which doesn't make any sense.
Any solutions to this problem would be clumsy and time-consuming. There are more important things to worry about.
Oh and please make your thread titles descriptive.
well, a basic animation could actually be triggered by the clutch... it would still be delayed a little, but as it's only an animation, I wouldn't bother too much.
But then, I generally don't think it would be worth the effort.