RAC Know-How
Learning to drive - The driving licence
Driving Licence for automatic cars
You can choose to learn to drive and take your test in an automatic car a car with no clutch pedal. Instead it has a system that senses the need for a change to a higher or lower gear and it makes the change by itself.
The car has a selector in place of a gear lever. The driver selects 'D' (drive). From then on the automatic will change to a higher gear as the road speed rises and to a lower gear as it falls. It also takes account of hills, but it's sometimes necessary for the driver to use the selector to choose an appropriate gear for the driving conditions.
Automatic cars can make learning to drive easier, particularly for older or disabled people. However, if you take your test in an automatic car, your Driving Licence will only entitle you to drive automatic cars, not manual cars. A full automatic licence only acts as a Provisional Licence for a manual car. You'll need to take and pass another test to get a full manual Driving Licence.
Some cars are described by their manufacturers as having manual and automatic gears, but any vehicles with two pedals will also be classed as automatics.
