Can I get my license in an automatic car?

When you get your driver's license, you have to learn traffic rules, signs, speeds and, of course, clutch points. Is this last point unnecessary?

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Over the years, what used to be considered a luxury has become more affordable, such as automatic cars. Despite this, most driving schools offer their students cars with manual gearboxes. There's a reason for that.

In fact, it is permitted by law for a pupil to take his driving test in an automatic car, thus avoiding having to learn how to use the three pedals of manual gearboxes and do the clutch points.

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What the law says about the characteristics of the test vehicles is that "The practical test may be taken in a manual or automatic transmission vehicle", as can be read in Article 61(3) of Decree-Law 37/2014 of 14-03-2014. What happens is that, in paragraph 6 of that same article, we see that "If the test is taken in an automatic transmission vehicle, this mention must appear as a restriction on the driving license, with the holder being prevented from driving manual transmission vehicles".

There is a single exception to this point, which is found in the following paragraph 7 and states that "The restriction imposed in the previous paragraph shall not apply to categories C, CE, D or DE, obtained by a test carried out in an automatic transmission vehicle, when the applicant holds a driving license in at least one of the categories B, BE, C1, C1E, C, CE, D1 or D1E, obtained by a driving test carried out in a manual transmission vehicle, in which the subjects described in point 3. 12 of Section III or 3.1.14 of Section V of Part II of Annex VII".

So we can see that it is possible to get a license in an automatic transmission vehicle, but the driver is prevented from driving manual transmission vehicles. On the other hand, when the license is obtained in a manual transmission vehicle, it is valid for both types of car. This is why driving schools generally offer their services for manual cars.

With the electric vehicle market growing so rapidly, and these vehicles being automatic, fewer and fewer new licensees will want to drive manual vehicles. The question that remains is how long it will take for driving schools to reverse their offer and switch to mostly automatic or even electric cars.

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Source: RAZÃO AUTOMÓVEL

Translated with DeepL.com