by default the driver will reconnect *and attempt to execute the same SQL statement again*

This has not been my experience.

After testing this repeatedly, I have determined that the 1st execute that fails due to a lost connection does nothing. The connection is not even re-established!!!

If I attempt the same execute again, it is this 2nd execute that reconnects and successfully executes the statment.

Is your experience with mysql_auto_reconnect different?

What would be ideal is for connection issues to be entirely contained in DBD::myql, so that I can issue a single execute call, and it will always work, regardless of the current database connection status.