L-drivers gear up for an automatic future as petrol car sales ban nears

AA predicts manual tests will soon no longer be the norm

- by Tom Patterson

Increasing numbers of new drivers are gearing up for an automatic future, according to a leading motoring organisation.

The AA Driving School is predicting that a third of all driving tests will be taken in an automatic car next year - as the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

Electric cars are all automatic and data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency shows a consistent rise in the number of automatic tests which have been conducted in recent years.