End of the manual: young drivers opt for automatics in tests

Learner drivers are opting for automatic cars during their driving tests in greater numbers than ever before, heralding the demise of the manual gearbox.

Driving tests in automatic vehicles have risen to a record high, with 324,000 automatic-only tests being taken last year, according to official figures.

This is an increase of a third since 2022 and is the highest figure on record for the number of automatic transmission driving tests.

Tests taken in automatic cars made up more than a third of all the 865,000 driver qualification checks carried out last year, figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) revealed.

More drivers failed their tests in automatic cars than in manuals, however, with 48 per cent of learners in manual cars passing versus 43 per cent of candidates in automatics.

Disappearing manuals

Mark Winn, the DVSA’s chief driving examiner, said: “DVSA constantly reviews tests for all vehicle types to take account of changes in technology, driving habits, regulations and highway infrastructure, as well as to respond to accident trends.

“We have already started work to look at the impact of electric vehicles on driver and rider education and assessment and to plan for any changes that this shift in vehicle type and use will need.”

Learners who pass their test in an automatic cannot drive cars with a manual gearbox, needing to pass a separate test if they wish to do so.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, an industry body, two in three cars on British roads were fitted with manual gearboxes in 2022.

New manual cars are set to disappear over the next decade as the Government’s 2035 ban on petrol and diesel vehicles draws closer.

Test backlog

Electric vehicles typically do not have gearboxes, with the motor instead being directly connected to the wheels rather than through a traditional multi-geared transmission.

Toyota, however, bucked this trend last year by announcing that a manual or semi-automatic gearbox will be an option on its next generation of electric vehicles, as part of an initiative to make the cars “fun to drive”.

There is a huge backlog of driving tests created by a total halt to all tests being imposed during the Covid lockdowns.

Officials have been attempting to clear the backlog ever since, although the average waiting time to secure a driving test place is now 15.1 weeks, according to the DVSA.

Loveday Ryder, the DVSA chief executive, said in January: “We’ve made some good progress, but we still have a long way to go.”