Learn to drive with automatic driving lessons in Northumberland and Tyneside
Before you begin taking driving lessons, you need to choose the type of car that you want to drive. Essentially there are two types of transmission to consider; manual and automatic. If you are unsure feel free to contact Signature for some honest and friendly advice on driving tuition.
People learn in many different ways, and the type of driving lessons that are right for you will depend on your skills and traits.
Most people tend to like the feeling of control a manual car can offer, especially the ability to change gear at will to provide that extra boost of power for overtaking manouevres or climbing a hill.
Automatic cars are better suited for those drivers who have issues dealing with changing gears and handling clutch control. Learning in a car with an automatic transmission can make driving so much easier.
Learning to drive in a manual transmission car is not for everyone especially in busy towns and cities where manual gear changes and clutch control are an essential part of driving.
Nevertheless, the team at Signature School of Motoring believe it is better to learn to drive in manual transmission cars as you learn more skills. Additionally, once you pass your driving test, you then have the option to drive manual or automatic vehicles.
The benefits of learning to drive in automatic cars
There are multiple reasons why you might choose to learn in an automatic car. Nervous drivers or those lacking confidence may prefer to opt for cars where they no longer need to worry about additional tasks while they are trying to concentrate behind the wheel. Others with poor hand to eye coordination or having a minor disability that makes it difficult to manually change gears may also be suited to automatics.
How do manual and automatic cars differ
In a manual car, you change the gears manually by operating a gearstick and clutch pedal using your left hand and foot simultaneously while driving. A car typically has 5 or 6 forward gears and one reverse gear.
An automatic car selects the forward gears for you as you drive so there is no manual gearstick or clutch pedal.
The gearstick is replaced by a more simplistic knob with four options; park (P), drive (D), reverse (R) and neutral (N).
In park mode, the wheels are locked. This should be activated before turning the engine on or off.
Once you decide to move forward, drive mode needs to be activated. This option will automatically change your gears as you speed up and slow down.
Neutral mode is used to put the car in neutral mode when the car is temporarily stationary at junctions and during busy traffic.
Reverse mode is activated when you need to reverse and park the car up.
Automatic driving lessons versus manual lessons
Can you take driving lessons in an automatic vehicle? If you are only interested in driving an automatic car, taking driving lessons and a driving test in an automatic would make sense. If you pass you will qualify for an automatic driving licence, however you will never be able to drive vehicles with manual transmission.
An automatic licence will only let you drive automatic cars whereas a manual licence will let you drive both transmissions. So if you are required to drive manual cars in the future, you would first need to pass the driving test for manual transmission cars.
That said, if you start by learning in a manual car and later decide to take the automatic driving test, you will not need to start all over again, as the skills you learn in a manual will still come in handy when you drive an automatic car.
Our instructors provide driving tuition around Killingworth, Cramlington and Blyth in Northumberland, Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne and Wallsend, North Shields and Whitley Bay in North Tyneside with high pass rates.
Currently we are offering automatic driving lessons in Blyth, Cramlington, Seaton Deleval, Whitley Bay, Tynemouth and surrounding areas.
We have driving lessons and packages suited to everybody’s individual needs. Lessons are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
We offer door-to-door service and provide fully-qualified driving instructors to make sure that you don’t just get a driving licence but that you are taught a skill for life.