When learning to drive the first decision you will need to make is whether you choose to have manual or automatic car, the choice is yours but do you know the facts?
Manual v Automatic – As far as your driving licence is concerned the law states that if you pass a Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) practical driving test in a manual car you are allowed to drive either you have passed. If you pass a driving test in an automatic car you are limited to driving an automatic car. Does it make a difference to what you drive in short no, many people who pass a manual driving test never drive a manual car as they spend a lot of time stop/starting around town.
How do driving lessons in a manual car differ to an automatic car? Its probably best to firstly state that in manual car you will need to change the gears manually as the car speeds up or down, in an automatic car it does this function for you, I suppose rather than using the phrase “manual car or automatic car” we should use “manually geared car” this is more correct. So by now you’ve probably realised that in a manual car you will need to learn to use the manual gears and the clutch which allows you to do this so for some it can be harder to learn but once you have learnt how to use the clutch and gears everything else is the same.
So why do people choose manual over auto? simply its there choice but mostly because driving a manual car can mean you control how quick or slow the car goes by using the gears but technology has moved on so much in the past 10 years that there really isn’t much difference.
How does organising driving lessons differ between the 2 types of car? At the present time there are still a lot more manual DVSA Approved Driving Instructors known as ADi’s so arranging lessons in a manual car is still easier purely because of the demand but the swing over to automatic is slowly changing. It is worth mentioning at this point automatic driving lessons are still more expensive than manual because they have historically always been this way due to auto vehicles being more expensive back in the day as well as the demand for the automatic instructors is high so they can charge more, simple supply and demand.
It is a common myth that you can pass a driving test easier in an automatic rather than a manual vehicle. This is so wrong, most people that fail a driving test do so because of many different things but rarely does it include the gears, normally it is,
Not making effective observations at junctions
Not using the mirrors correctly when changing direction
Not moving off safely – Pulling away from the side of the road
Incorrect positioning when turning
Not responding properly to traffic lights
As you can see none of these reasons are to do with manual or automatic gears. You can read more about why people fail on the DVSA Website
The only real time a big difference is made is when a learner driver has the challenges of dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD (& similar) and potentially a form of autism or possibly if someone cannot multi task. I would highly recommend learning to drive in an automatic if you have any of these challenges but if they are just mild maybe it will not affect your driving ability. Most driving schools and we certainly do at A Pass 4 U Driving School offer a 2 hour starter lesson where you could try manual and if you do not get on with it you could switch to a different driving instructor who teaches automatic.
What’s the difference between a manual driving test and a manual driving test? Simply there isn’t one, they use the same routes, you’ll have the same show me tell me questions and the same manoeuvres. They are identical apart from the examiner marks a manual or auto box to signify which type of car you are in.
If you do decide to learn to drive in an automatic car but later on want to drive a manual car it is very easy to upgrade your driving licence by taking another driving test in a manual car. Of course you will need to take a few lessons in manual car and chase away the inevitable bad habits. Once you have passed a manual test you can then drive either and don’t worry if you fail the manual version they will not take away your automatic licence.
Here at A Pass 4 U Driving School in Essex we offer manual and automatic driving lessons so please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions on 01702 308763 between 09:30 & 17:30 Monday to Friday or send us an email at apass4u@yahoo.co.uk