06/08/2026
The AA has called for a driving test rule change 🚗
Motorists who pass automatic driving tests should be allowed behind the wheel of a manual car after completing a one-hour conversion session, according to the AA.
Edmund King, president of the motoring services company, told the Press Association “it doesn’t make sense” for them to wait months for a manual driving test slot, as most “quickly develop good road skills”.
Motorists who pass the test in an automatic car are currently only permitted to drive automatics. If they later want to drive a manual car – such as when working, hiring a car or borrowing a friend or relative’s car – they must pass a further test in a manual car.
But Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures show the average waiting time to book a test in May was nearly 22 weeks, compared with about five weeks in February 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic. The proportion of learners taking automatic driving tests in Britain is at a record high.
DVSA data shows 29.4% of all tests conducted in the last financial year were in an automatic car, up from about 4% in 2007/08. Electric cars, which have surged in popularity in recent years, do not have a conventional gearbox, meaning people who choose to learn in them take automatic tests.
Whereas a manual car has a gear system operated by moving the gear stick and clutch pedal, automatics change gears based on speed, without the driver doing anything. This means automatic cars are generally considered easier to drive, but they can be more expensive, and some people find them less interesting. Mr King said many new drivers go automatic as they want to “ditch the clutch, gear stick and difficult hill starts”.
He went on: “Most drivers of automatic cars quickly develop good road skills, so it doesn’t make sense to force them to spend months overcoming the driving test backlog just to borrow a manual car.
“What we need is the Government to approve a conversion lesson provided by driving schools so that those that pass their test in an automatic can also drive manual vehicles legally.
“Such a one-hour conversion course would help those who may occasionally need to drive a manual car do so legally. This would be more pragmatic that retesting them in a manual vehicle when the DVSA is struggling to get rid of the current test backlog.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “For the safety of all road users, anyone wishing to drive a manual car must pass a manual driving test and we have no plans to change this.”
