2023-11-29 18:00:00
“It has become a first choice,” says a manager from Federdrive Wallonie, the federation of driving schools. The automatic transmission is becoming the norm in new cars. – Yannick Hallet By Yannick Hallet Journalist in the General Editorial Staff Published on 11/29/2023 at 12:16 p.m.
According to figures from the FPS Mobility, 11,550 driving licenses with a code 78 have been issued since the start of the year, or 9.5% of all B licenses issued in 2023. A code which has a very specific meaning .
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” Originally… “
This code means that the holder passed his license with a car with an automatic gearbox and therefore cannot drive a vehicle with a manual gearbox. In 2022, the automatic transmission permit rate was 7.5%, compared to 4.2% in 2019 (last year with Covid) and 1.7% in 2013, once more according to SPF data.
In 2013, only 2,534 drivers opted for code 78, compared to 143,375 for the normal license. “Originally, we directed candidates who had great difficulty with the manual gearbox to the automatic transmission. Today, the automatic transmission has become a first choice for some of our students,” explains Olivier Pereaux, head of a driving school and spokesperson for the professional federation Federdrive Wallonie. The vehicle fleet at its training center has been adapted accordingly. Three vehicles now operate with automatic gearboxes compared to sixteen with manual gearboxes: “Before, we only had one automatic car which was of very little use”.
The motivations of the candidates are diverse. Some people don’t want to mess around with changing gears. Others are already working in a family world where the automatic transmission has become the norm. In the free sector, more and more parents, especially if they have a company car, are abandoning manual transmissions. “Automatic transmissions are much more comfortable today than fifteen years ago and they consume less. Furthermore, hybrid and electric engines are automatic by default,” adds Christophe Dubon of Fébiac, the federation of the Belgian automobile industry.
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“Mastering the clutch generally takes between six and eight hours of lessons. People think they can drive as soon as they stop stalling. But knowing how to drive well is not limited to this aspect,” emphasizes Olivier Pereaux of Federdrive. For him, it is essential to develop spatial perception and perception of risks on the road. With an automatic transmission, you can directly approach these skills without going through laborious technical learning of using the pedals and changing gears.
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“If the manual gearbox became the norm, we might save time for training. The current 20-hour module might be reduced by a few hours,” estimates the Federdrive spokesperson.
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