Learner drivers prefer to practice in automatic cars than manual
More learner drivers are turning away from manual cars and opting for the restricted automatic licence test. One driving instructor said there are benefits of learning to drive a manual car but many students pick auto for one reason.
NSW
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Learner drivers in NSW are shunning manual cars and instead opting for the “easier” but restricted automatic licence test.
About 77 per cent of P1 licences issued by the NSW Roads and Maritime Services Department were for “auto only” this year to June, up 13 points since 2009.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said he was actually surprised even 23 per cent of young drivers were being granted manual licences.
“Increasingly what we are seeing most of the popular cars on the road come in auto,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“Where you tend to now see manual is either in work vehicles like utes … or in those really high end, expensive luxury cars which are out of the price range of most young drivers.”
Mr Khoury said many young drivers found it less stressful to drive automatics.
“The reality is for most people in Sydney who are learning to drive, its easier to learn … it gives you more choice when it comes to buying vehicles, and if you are driving the family car, most family cars are automatic.”
Australian Driver Trainers Association NSW board member and LTrent driving instructor Peter Hales said there were benefits to learning to drive a manual car.
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“A lot of my clients are actually from families who don’t have manual cars but the parents want their kids to learn in case of an emergency situation,” he said.
“Some people are scared of it but it’s just a little more nerve-racking to get started.”
P1 provisional drivers are restricted to driving automatics if they are tested in one.
Director of Onroad Driving School Ronak Shah said some young people take the test in an automatic car even if they can drive a manual just because they think it will be easier to pass.
“Sometimes people use that as a loophole,” he said.
Mr Shah said Onroad does about 400 manual lessons a month compared to 2,500 to 3,000 automatic lessons.
“We always ask for feedback why our drivers chose manual and they often say because they feel more awake because you’re not going to get complacent,” he said.
Sydney mum Karen Blackstock said she wanted her daughter Matilda to learn how to drive a manual car.
“I learnt in a manual, and I wanted all my kids to learn in a manual,” she said.
“She was really interested in it herself. She wanted to learn that way so then she could drive anything, it’s a life skill,” she said.
Auto only” licence restrictions are removed when the driver reaches a P2 or unrestricted licence, or sits a practical manual test.
Originally published as Learner drivers prefer to practice in automatic cars than manual
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