Thinking of upgrading to a manual licence

Redemption

I’m thinking about getting my manual driving licence in the future to improve my job prospects. When I was 17, I originally started learning in a manual with a couple of instructors but struggled with it, so I switched to automatic and eventually passed my test in an automatic car. It’s been fine overall, although it does limit the range of cars I can drive. That said, most cars now have automatic versions, and some newer models—especially electric cars—are only available as automatics anyway. For my own personal cars, I’d probably still want an automatic as my daily, but for job prospects and to be able to drive a wider range of vehicles I feel like upgrading to a manual licence would be useful.

I definitely shouldn’t be self-conscious about only having an automatic licence, but I have been at times, especially as someone who really loves cars. I also don’t want to feel self-conscious about learning to drive a manual at 24 or 25, especially considering I’m already at least 70 percent of the way there—it’s just that I’d like to complete it. I’ve been quite on and off about the idea over the past few years because just thinking about it has felt really daunting, but realistically I should be fine. I already drive my automatic pretty much every day and know the roads well, so it would mainly be about getting used to the clutch, changing gears properly, and getting back to driving at the standard needed for the driving test, including getting rid of any bad habits. Back when I was learning manual before, I sometimes went into the wrong gear, which I think was partly because I was overthinking it, something I know I can still do now. Clutch control is also something I’d just need to get used to again with a bit of practice. I really just need a few lessons to top me off rather than starting from scratch like someone who has never driven before and might need months or even years to learn. Since I already drive regularly, I think I’d probably be able to pass within a few lessons, although I’ve heard the waiting lists for tests are really bad at the moment, so I might try to get a cancellation if possible.

I’ve also heard that around 2030 or 2035 new cars are expected to become fully electric, but that mainly applies to new car sales. There will still be millions of used manual cars on the road for many years after that, and the ban might not even go exactly to plan anyway. It would also mean that if I ever wanted to buy a manual car for myself in the future, I’d have the option to do so.