I have a manual driving license but after 1 relapse in particular I lost the strength in my left leg. I took it upon myself to swap my car for an automatic as I drive a lot for my job and I felt unsafe in having a manual.
I am having difficulty at work drawing automatic cars (there is only 1) from our car pool as I do not have an automatic license. They say I may have the automatic car but only if someone with an automatic license doesnt want it - they would get priority.
I had a dig around on the DVLA website and I cannot see anything on how I change it. Has anyone swapped theres over and if so, how? Did it cost a lot of money?
Hi Haley, if you have passed your test in a manual car, that means you’ll also be able to drive an automatic car. If you only had a licence to drive an automatic car, you’d then have to take a test to obtain a new manual driving licence.
So as long as you have a normal/manual driving licence, you’ll be ok & have nothing to pay!
if you feel that your left leg is not working well enough to use a clutch then you should declare this to DVLA. They will then send you a questionnaire and get evidence from your GP about your fitness to drive. Assuming that is the only current problem, they will then issue you with a licence restricting you to driving an automatic car only. My licence was originally restricted to this and later changed to one with push/pull controls and a steering ball. Your license, once you’ve told them about deficits, is granted for 3 years at a time.
If you are not really safe to drive a manual car you have a legal duty to notify DVLA. I can’t remember where all the info is on the DVLA website, maybe someone has a link? Or do a web search on medical fitness to drive or similar.
If you have not told the DVLA and your insurance company, do like Patrick says, and tell them now.
OK, so you have a few forms to fill in, but you avoid any legal problems.
Then you can tell the DVLA that you can only drive an automatic and are willing to accept this restriction on your licence.
If you need an auto for work, can you not use your own and claim mileage?
I did the official bit long ago - DVLA and insurance were informed, I had a driving assesment at the request of DVLA a few years ago and renew my license every 3 years. I was just never asked to/thought I needed to get my actual license card changed.
Doctor Geoff - I can use my own car at times, however we are a 1 car family so I dont always have my own car when required. It gets my goat as everyone else doing the same job in my company is given a permanent pool car (we are called out at a moments notice so not always time to book one in advance) but they will not issue automatics (they are £13 a year more than a manual - what a joke).
Anyways - thanks for all your input, as ever I knew I would get some sensible responses on here.