London is one of the busiest cities in the world for road traffic, over 1 million vehicles enter the city every day and the city itself contains 2.6 million vehicles* (* source TfL) .

It relies on a road system that has not changed since medieval times, but this year something has changed leading to what many describe as the “worst traffic jams in London’s history”.

The source of this gridlock is due to the London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan rolling out a new scheme in July at a cost of £250,000, where Transport for London (TfL) imposed new cycle lanes across the city, reducing many roads to a single lane each way for cars, creating massive tailbacks spewing pollution on pedestrians and cyclists.

All of this is part of a £250 million Government initiative to encourage people to travel on bicycles and minimise the use of public transport when the Covid-19 threat was at its most dangerous.

They call it the ‘Emergency Active Travel scheme’, and it was rushed through past Parliament, often without any consultation with local residents or businesses.

Many local authorities have used the funds without any foresight to rapidly increase the number of cycle lanes and impose ‘LTNs — Low Traffic Neighbourhoods — on residential areas, even if not required. This includes bollards and road closures on high traffic roads.

But now it seems that many councils will need to U turn on their active measures and even rip up the cycle lanes and bollards they’ve put down. Even Sadiq Khan has been forced to backtrack on some of London’s schemes. Next month, selected cycle lanes and bollards will be ripped up to the delight of residents and struggling local businesses.

It is a highly embarrassing reversal for the Mayor and TfL, which has admitted that the cost of returning roads to former states is unknown.

Residents fight back across UK

In other parts of Britain, we are seeing councils forced to U-turn due to rising resident pressure.

Councils are desperately trying to work out how quickly they can get rid of their schemes and appease furious residents, some of which are taking to the streets in protest.

All over the country, expensive, traffic calming schemes are being abandoned, months after being built, at a huge cost to the taxpayer.

In many cities and towns, without any consultation, council contractors moved in over the summer to block roads with bollards and planters, turning many residential areas into no-go zones.

In the months since, councils have become alarmed by the groundswell of opposition to their schemes, which in most areas crosses party lines.

In some parts of the country, local businesses are reporting customer losses of up to 80 per cent since the restrictions came into force.

It gets worse, the councils are also being slammed by clean air campaigners, horrified by the ensuing gridlock across towns and cities.

Source: Morningstaronline.com 2020

Department of Transport Defends Schemes

The Department of Transport continues to defend the schemes, but even the Transport Minister is unable to escape the pressure.

Grant Shapps, MP for Welwyn Hatfield, was informed that his local council was presented with a 1,200-signature petition complaining about the new traffic scheme killing the high street. He ended up writing to the council, challenging the policy his own department had put in place.

Shapps also wrote to other local authorities, warning that he might withdraw funding if they continued to abuse the Government scheme.

This week, when interviewed by The Daily Mail he said ‘Clearly there have been individual instances where schemes have fallen well below par. Some emergency measures have been hurried through by councils, with little to no consultation of residents, meaning they have failed to deliver for locals or offer genuine improvements.

‘I’m determined to make sure the schemes rolled out as a result of the next round of funding work from the get-go for the whole community. We’ve been consistently clear that councils must engage with local communities — and have publicly reminded all authorities that plans have to work for everyone.’

The truth is that, at the moment, they’re hardly working for anyone. In a recent survey by Transport Focus, a research agency funded by central Government, cycle use has remained static throughout the pandemic at about seven per cent of traffic.

At a time when local businesses are in dire need of support, the last thing your councils should do is prevent customers from reaching your shops and prevent local residents from coping with the challenges of the pandemic crisis.

What do you think about residents and businesses fighting back against these measures? What are these active measures going to do to towns and cities in the future? Let us know in the comments.

[“Car Crash: 12 march 2009” by jenineabarbanel is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0]

Police warned a number of ‘rubberneckers’ at a recent accident in Essex to stop filming on their mobiles as they drove past or they will be arrested and charged with using their mobile phones while driving.

Police noticed several drivers using their mobiles to capture the car wreckage, as well as passengers.

Emergency services arrived at the A13 in Thurrock, Essex, where an Audi car had been rear-ended by an HGV causing the vehicle to smash into a flat bed truck.

As a result of the accident, one person sustained injuries and was taken to Queen’s Hospital in Romford. It is not believed their condition was serious.

The crash caused large queues of traffic on the A13 and M25, leading to the road being shut for most of the day.

Essex Police have released a new photo of the incident showing the car involved wedged under a lorry in front, (see below).

The Police issued a severe warning to drivers who used their mobiles to film the incident as they drove past.

‘Thankfully the driver of this car hit from behind by an HGV on the A13 earlier wasn’t seriously hurt. To the 20 or so drivers who drove by one handed to film it with your phones not watching the road ahead, keep an eye on your (mailbox emoji) …as we’ll be in touch.’ taken from a Tweet by the South Essex Road Policing Unit.

In September this year, a 25-year-old man died in a crash on the A1089 shortly before it joins the A13. Emergency services were called to reports of a collision between a blue Volkswagen Crafter van and a stationary HGV. An air ambulance was sent, but sadly the man died at the scene.

Police need to take tougher stance on mobile use at wheel

Since 2006 there have been police powers to stop mobile phone use at the wheel under the Road Safety Act, where motorists can earn 6 points and a £200 fine, but that does not seem to deter people.

In 2018 we saw the roll out of “vulture cameras” on selected roads such the A3, with tech capable of detecting in the day or night if a driver is using a mobile phone while driving, but the deployment is still limited to a handful of locations and drivers soon learn where they are.

The concept of ‘rubbernecking’ at accidents is nothing new, with some motoring bodies suggesting that at least 30% of all traffic jams are caused by rubberneckers on the opposite side of a road slowing down to look at the gory details of the accident, or even a broken down vehicle.

But the combination of ‘rubbernecking’ and mobile phone use at the same time needs to be cracked down upon as much as possible, or we will just see continued lawlessness on Britain’s roads, recorded and posted on You Tube as and when they like.

Do you think the police should crack down hard on ‘rubberneckers’ who film accident scenes on their mobiles? What sort of penalty should they receive? Let us know in the comments below.

New data shows that motorists in Scotland run red lights the most, with drivers in Glasgow disregarding red traffic lights more than anywhere else in Britain.

Vehicle leasing broker, Select Car Leasing, uncovered the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) figures using the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and found that, since April 2016, Glasgow prosecuted 13,373 drivers for ignoring traffic lights—over 10% of the recorded offences in England, Wales and Scotland.

Showing Glasgow in a bad light

Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, came second in the list with 8,022 prosecutions in the last four years, while Nottingham came third, recording 5,775 prosecutions up to October 2019.

Of the remaining 20 worst offending postcode areas since 2016, Bristol was next, with 5,048 prosecutions, followed by Cardiff (4,942), Sheffield (2,925), Leicester (2,781), Motherwell (2,596), and Liverpool (2,520). Next, was the London South Western SW postcode area (2,157), followed by Southend-on-Sea (2,305), Manchester (2,239), the London South Eastern SE postcode area (2,157), Greater London (2,137), Birmingham (1,851), Doncaster (1,729), Brighton (1,707), and the Essex CM postcode area (including Billericay, Braintree, Chelmsford, and Stansted) with 1,704 prosecutions. North London was next, with 1,659 offences, then Kilmarnock with 1,611.

The 10 least offending areas since 2016 were those with fewer vehicles on the road, so it’s no surprise Lerwick in the Shetlands had the fewest red light offences, with just 20 offences, followed by The Outer Hebrides in second place with only 34 prosecutions.

The Western Central WC postcode area was next, with 37 offences, followed by the London’s Eastern Central EC postcode area (46), Far North Scotland (56), Llandrindod Wells (61), Dorchester (116), Harrogate (118), Halifax (132), and Blackpool (134).

If you run a red light, you’ll receive a ‘TS10’ notice on your driving licence for ‘failing to comply with traffic light signals’. This stays on your record for four years. The number of TS10 endorsements for traffic light offences since 2016 was 127,721, but overall, these offences are declining, with 39,440 in 2016, 33,695 in 2017, and 33,147 in 2018.

The Department for Transport (DfT) reported 160,597 casualties from road traffic incidents in 2018, with around 75,095 of those taking place at junctions, many of which were traffic light-controlled.

Amber gambler

Mark Tongue, Owner and Company Director of Select Car Leasing, said:

‘Traffic lights are there for a reason and jumping them when they are on red is not only an offence, it is also highly dangerous.

‘Glasgow has around 50 speed and red-light cameras, a relatively high figure compared with other cities, which may explain why it is the red-light jumping capital.

‘But driving habits and behaviours also play a significant part and motorists can hardly blame a camera if they get caught ploughing through traffic when they should be coming to a standstill.

‘Few motorists enjoy being stuck at lights, not least at night when there is little other traffic around and you’re in a rush.

‘But the law is there to be followed and not broken.

‘By jumping a red traffic light or being a so-called ‘amber gambler’, drivers are creating a very real threat of death to other road users and pedestrians.

‘If caught, they also face being handed three penalty points, which in some instances may lead to a driving ban under the totting-up procedure, and a fine.’

Paying the penalty

Traffic light offences are most often dealt with by a Fixed Penalty of 3 points and a £100 fine, but if you don’t respond to the penalty notice or if you give incorrect details of the driver, you risk a fine of £1,000 and six penalty points. If you already have points on your driving licence, a Fixed Penalty may mean you lose your licence.

In England and Wales, if you’re caught by a traffic signal camera and activation of the camera was within less than three seconds of the light turning red, the police may offer you a place on a Traffic Signal Course as an alternative punishment, though Scotland doesn’t yet offer this option.

If you complete a safety awareness course, don’t expect reduced insurance premiums because, depending on the insurance company, your premiums could increase—if you get any penalty points, they will increase.

And, if you cross the white line at traffic lights to make way for emergency vehicles, you won’t be immune from prosecution from a traffic signal camera. And, while many of us will risk punishment to help an emergency vehicle to get to an incident, you’re still liable for any offences you commit by moving across the solid white line; something all emergency personnel know.

How well do drivers obey traffic lights where you live? Do the findings prove more red-light offences happen in Glasgow, or do their police prioritise these offences more than others? Have you been punished for running a red or amber light? Tell us in the comments.

To meet international targets for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, in 2001, the government encouraged us to switch to diesel cars, even introducing new tax rates as an incentive, but after experts found diesel emissions contained particulates that cause health problems and premature death, politicians began to criticise drivers of ‘dirty’ diesel cars.

Despite their talk on the dangers of diesel, local authority leaders aren’t leading by example and switching to vehicles powered by alternative ‘greener’ fuel sources, highlighted by new research showing that almost 92% of council vehicles have diesel engines.

One rule for one and one rule for another

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Auto Express reached out to the local authorities in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland and found that, of the 320 that responded, 91.6% of all the vehicles run on diesel with 62 council fleets consisting only of diesel vehicles.

While fleets vary across the UK, the average fleet has 208 vehicles—vehicles such as dustbin lorries, gritters, and minibuses.

Local authorities admit that replacing their fleets’ diesel vehicles with electric alternatives isn’t an option most of the time, which shows how much the UK relies on diesel. With seven out of the 12 responding councils revealing 98.6% of their fleet is diesel-powered, the Northern Ireland councils depend most on the fuel. Scottish councils are least dependent on it, having the highest proportion of electric vehicles (EVs) in their fleet, but even nine out of 10 of their vehicles are diesel.

An increasing number of councils plan to either outright ban diesel drivers from entering certain areas or charge them a fee for the privilege.

In November, we told you how Bristol City Council plans to ban private diesel cars from its city centre, yet 369 (81.5%) of the council’s own 453 vehicles are diesel, and councillors say they intend to buy a further 64 diesel vans.

And 89% of the 4,844-strong fleet operated by London councils use diesel, including at least 724 (15%) pre-Euro 6 diesel vehicles. Yet, drivers of vehicles with the same non-compliant diesel engines must pay £12.50 to enter the city’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

Is an electric council fleet just a pipe dream?

Responding to the analysis by Auto Express, the Local Government Association (LGA)—the national membership body for local authorities across England and Wales—said ‘councils are eager to switch to EVs or low-emission alternatives where possible,’ but ‘the vast majority’ of the specialist vehicles councils use don’t have workable electric alternatives because ‘they don’t exist’.

A Spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) said the figures ‘show a shift away’ from the picture of a traditional diesel fleet and, because of this, there’s a progression towards ‘decarbonising Local Authorities’ fleets.’

COSLA said this shift is likely to span several years but that local government is ‘committed to working towards that goal with Transport Scotland and our public sector partners.’

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council who says the council ‘has a legal duty to improve our air quality,’ said the council hasn’t yet established full details of the city’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) plan, but that, once the final scheme is in place, it’ll influence how the council uses its fleet, adding, ‘the aim is to reduce air pollution and establish Bristol as a carbon-neutral city.’

Councils that depend on diesel still run a high proportion of EVs compared to the proportion of EVs in the UK as a whole. Together, councils own 1,835 EVs—2.75% of their collective fleets—while the 94,000 EVs registered in the UK make up just 0.25% of vehicles. Of councils with larger fleets (over 20 vehicles), North Somerset has the highest EV proportion, with 36% of its 95 vehicles being pure electric. Of the councils that responded, their fleet included just 306 hybrids and 118 Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs).

The dirty dozen

Across the UK, 12 local authorities stand out because of the number of diesel vehicles in their municipal fleets. These are Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds. Manchester, Sheffield, Oxford, Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, and London. We’ve covered the plans to improve air quality in London and Bristol, but what can you expect from these other major cities?

Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Dundee both have Low Emission zones (LEZ) under consultation, with Dundee’s introduction planned by the end of 2020 and Glasgow city centre LEZ will ban non-Euro 4 petrol cars and non-Euro 6 diesel vehicles from 2023.

Leeds, Sheffield, and Bath plan to charge drivers of more-polluting HGVs, buses, and taxis to enter the CAZ, with Leeds charging £12.50-£50, Sheffield £10-£50, and Bath £9-£100.

An emission standard-based CAZ for HGVs, buses, taxis, and vans is under consideration in Manchester and Newcastle and, while Oxford is under development, the council could ban non-EVs from parking in the city centre and upgrade its bus fleet to Euro 6.

The demonisation of diesel meant that, in 2017, CO2 emissions rose for the first time in 14 years because of drivers choosing petrol cars over diesel, causing a massive drop in diesel sales. What’s ironic is, tests show that most modern Euro-6 diesel engines are less polluting than many petrol vehicles. Let’s hope the government doesn’t make another u-turn once we’re all driving battery-powered cars.

Are the proposed ‘clean air’ measures workable and fair for everybody? Is your local authority listed? How are they performing? Share your opinions in the comments.

I’ve worked in automotive engineering for 30 years, with everything from a race-tuned Reliant Robin engine (to be used as a fire pump) through to Formula 1, and everything in-between – WRC, WEC, IndyCar, BTCC, WTCC and low-volume manufacturing, to name a few.

I grew up with sci-fi vehicles like the Johnny Cab, or watching the original Top Gear with William Woollard and Chris Goffey, in which we were presented ‘The Car of the Future’, usually in the guise of something with wings, or semi-autonomous capacity. Today, we are living that sci-fi reality.

It’s easy to decry this technology as the ‘Nanny State’ governing us and our driving, and to a degree, that’s exactly what it is. But, and it’s a big but, it’s these smaller steps of semi-autonomy, Artificial Intelligence, and governance, that are leading the charge to science-fiction, becoming science-fact.

Artificial Intelligence

Gone are the days of perfecting the manual gearchange, double declutching, balancing power against grip, or even just reverse parking into a tight spot; modern cars can take care of all of that, and so much more.

Driving was once an art, possibly flamboyant, definitely something that you never finished learning or perfecting, but with the PlayStation generation, it’s just a tool, a method of transportation, where your inputs need to be bare minimum, with maximum efficiency. Is that such a bad thing?

Of course, much of the innovation comes from the need for safety, but it could be argued that  it’s a vicious circle: As cars become easier to drive, with less thought needed, driving standards fall because drivers don’t need to be as aware, or switched on.

Whatever the reasoning, a new way of driving is upon us, and it’s making the most of modern and innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.

Bosch Interior Monitoring System

The latest news in safety and monitoring, comes from the German brand, Bosch GmbH. They are pioneering a system that uses a combination of cameras and Artificial Intelligence to monitor the occupants of a vehicle.

The system is capable of actively adjusting numerous safety systems (seat-belts being a prime example) to best contain or minimise injury; cameras mounted in the steering wheel, rear-view mirror and roof, will monitor eye movement, blink rate, and seating position to best determine whether the driver is distracted, or even if the passengers are sitting in an awkward position (as is the way with most children).

It can then take the appropriate action, be that adjust seat-belts, slowing the car, or just sounding a warning signal.

1 in 10

Past research tells us that around one in ten accidents are caused by distracted or tired driving, the European Commission estimates that systems such as the Bosch IMS could help save 25,000 lives by 2038.

That’s no small number, but you’d have to ask yourself whether in 2038, a system such as this will still be relevant? Surely, full autonomy will be commonplace, with human decisions at an absolute bare minimum?

With that said, this type of technology will be used in production vehicles from 2022, along with the speed monitoring systems and numerous other AI-based innovations, all to make our motoring lives safer. While I dislike the fact that these systems seem to be removing the skilful element of driving, I appreciate that these are necessary if we’re to make the switch to full autonomy in the future.

However, we’ve all seen the photographs of Tesla drivers seemingly asleep at the wheel, letting the Autopilot system do all the work. While that behaviour is (currently) illegal, and Tesla have built-in some safeguards (such as having your hands on the steering wheel), surely that’s the obvious misuse of these systems that we’d expect?

This is part of the problem that we referred to earlier – as cars become easier to drive, with less input needed, driving standards will fall, and we could see a spike in collisions and accidents as a result. American police have already had to use the Tesla’s Autopilot to bring a car safely to a stop (with the Tesla system recognising that the car in front was slowing to stop and it followed), but reliance on safety is still down to the one thing that can’t be changed; human behaviour.

Truthfully, there’s no easy answer, and the gap between traditional drivers and the PlayStation generation is getting wider – think of your elderly mother continuing to struggle with sending a text, and how frustrating that is to someone where it’s second nature. These modern generation vehicles will soon become similar.

Is technology a good thing? Is there an issue of slowing down the introduction of tech to allow drivers to keep up? Or should we just push for as much autonomy as possible? Let us know in the comments.

Image credit: Bosch

It’s hard to believe, and perhaps it gets lost with the differences between forecourts, but November saw petrol and diesel prices drop for the fourth consecutive month, by an average of £0.005 per litre.

However, motoring experts say that fuel is still overpriced, and the AA say that supermarkets aren’t helping the situation with their ‘deals’; spend £60 in-store and get 10p off a litre of fuel. It’s thought that only around 1/3 of motorists regularly spend this amount when grocery shopping.

Fuel price drop

Fuel price analysts say that fuel is still overpriced, and considering that supermarkets have the margins to lower forecourt costs by up to £0.05 per litre, they should be doing more to help drive the prices down, and given that wholesale costs are low, they should be doing this.

The Fuel Watch report carried out by the RAC, says that prices for last month fell by £0.0048 for petrol, and £0.0044 for diesel in the same period, making the average price per litre drop from £1.26.41 to £1.25.93 (unleaded) and £1.30.27 to £1.29.83 (diesel).

This means that the average cost to fill a 55-litre tank is £69.26 (unleaded) and £71.41 (diesel), which is almost a couple of pounds less than the prices being paid in the summer. Since the beginning of August, fuel prices have dropped by around £0.03.31 for unleaded and £0.02.21 for diesel.

Petrol Prices

Of course, we at PetrolPrices could argue that downloading our app could potentially save you more than that anyway (with potential savings of over £220 per year), but in a survey carried out by the AA, consumers want to see more action being done to regulate prices, including forced time periods for following the wholesale cost; so that a forecourt had to reduce the price within a certain timescale.

The AA surveyed nearly 18,000 members, 73% agreed that the Government should set a maximum timescale for retailers to pass on savings, and 86% agreed that they thought supermarkets had the cheapest fuel.

With that said, supermarkets have come in for some heavy criticism, thanks mainly to the spend & save deals linked to fuel. Just 34% of the respondents to the survey said they would regularly spend £60 or more on groceries, and for those aged between 18-24, that figure fell to just one in ten.

When these schemes were first introduced, the ‘spend’ figure had variables – spend £20 for 2p per litre saving, £30 for a three pence saving, but these have gone by the wayside as supermarkets look to maximise their revenue, and in-store spending. 58% of the survey said that they thought supermarket vouchers were an underhand way of getting consumers to spend more.

One supermarket retailer did come out of it well though – ASDA had the cheapest fuel at the end of November, with retailers such as Sainsburys and Morrisons charging nearly two pence extra for diesel. It was also reported that significant savings at the pump (rather than through a voucher) only really happens when ASDA triggers a fuel price war.

Lesson learned?

Overall, consumers think that supermarkets have the cheapest fuel, and statistics do bear that out – averagely, supermarket fuel is £0.04.70 cheaper per litre than at other, regular forecourts, so clearly they’re doing something right, but is it enough?

It’s easy to say ‘vote with your feet’, but for some, that just isn’t practical; my nearest ASDA for example is seven miles away, an easy twenty-five minute journey each way, so I’d be faced with almost an hour’s driving for a small saving.

But … if you’re combining it with a trip for groceries also, then that could work for you, it certainly influences my shopping choice, and I can’t be alone. What would happen if people did start voting with their feet and using supermarkets in such a manner? You can easily see the likes of Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons having to compete, because they’d be losing both forecourt and retail revenue.

For some people, fussing over a penny or two saved at the forecourt is just an annoyance, but for others, it can be the difference between staying in the black, or hitting the red, and it shouldn’t be that way. Did you know that there are now more foodbanks than branches of the clown themed fast food restaurant?

Should supermarkets be doing more to help those on the breadline? Do you think that their ‘spend & save’ voucher is a good idea? Or just an underhand way of generating revenue? Let us know in the comments.

A report by the AA shows that those of us searching for cars with automatic gearboxes has almost doubled in the past five years, going from 9.9% in 2014 to 18.6% this year.

In their recent survey of 20,000 motorists, the motoring organisation found most people prefer automatics—with well over half claiming they’re easier to drive—but could there be another reason for the increased interest in automatics?

A shift away from manual?

Used vehicle selling site, AA Cars, said they’ve added more automatic vehicles to their advertised vehicle stock over the last five years and, of the models listed, the number of cars with automatic gearboxes increased from 23.4% in 2014 to 32.1% in 2019.

But it has been the last two years where the largest increase in searches for automatic cars has happened, according to the AA’s figures.

AA Cars looked at where in the UK is selling the most automatic cars and revealed the top 10 towns and cities with both the highest and lowest proportion of automatic cars for sale.

The highest proportion of automatic cars for sale was in Chelmsford, Essex, where 61.4% of second-hand cars for sale have automatic gearboxes. London came second, with automatic cars accounting for 53.6% of available secondhand cars, followed by York, where 42% of cars for sale have automatic gearboxes. The eight other towns and cities with the highest percentage of automatics for sale are Leeds (42%), Bury (39.5%), Luton (39.5%), Lincoln (39.4%), Sheffield (38.7%), Bradford (36.8%), and Doncaster (35.4%).

In the 10 towns and cities with the lowest proportion of automatic cars for sale, Liverpool has the fewest, with automatics making up just 15.5% of the stock, followed by Paisley at 15.6%, and Edinburgh’s used automatics accounting for 17.5% of the market. Making up the rest are Stirling (17.6%), Glasgow (19.8%), Newcastle-upon-Tyne (19.8%), Rotherham (22.2%), Nottingham (22.6%), Wakefield (22.6%), and Preston (22.8%).

Also in the AA Populus poll, 57% of drivers said automatics are easier to drive than manual cars, which meant they found them more desirable and only 9% of motorists said they were harder to drive than a manual vehicle.

Despite the figures highlighting that most people find automatics easier to drive, 32% of motorists say they don’t enjoy driving automatics as much as cars with a manual gearbox, while 20% of the survey respondents said they get equal amounts of enjoyment whether they’re driving automatics or manuals.

By popular demand

Are cars with automatic transmissions more popular because we don’t want the hassle of changing gear ourselves? Well, maybe, but AA Cars said there’s a good chance it’s because more of us are searching online for used pure electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles. Most EVs don’t contain gearboxes and hybrid vehicles most often use an automatic-style gear-change.

James Fairclough, CEO of AA Cars, said:

‘Automatic vehicles are being manufactured in greater numbers, but it is pleasing to see that drivers are responding positively to this added supply with even more of them actively searching for these cars.

‘The increasing interest in electric cars is partly behind these figures, as the vast majority on sale are automatic and they are growing in popularity in the used car market.’

Clutch pedal use can get uncomfortable—more so in areas with heavy traffic—and can cause aching leg muscles because your left foot never gets a rest. Mr Fairclough said it was ‘no surprise to see that congested London is one of the best-stocked areas for automatic cars as they require much less effort to drive when someone is stuck in stop-start traffic.’

‘Every driver has different preferences for what they want from their car, so we would always urge people to take a car for a test drive before committing to a purchase. This can be an important step in determining if the car is in good condition, but will also help drivers decide if an automatic or manual is best for them, added Fairclough.

Shiftless and lazy?

Driving an automatic is a different driving experience than driving a vehicle with a manual gearbox, but is it lazy driving? What about power-assisted steering or other technological advances that make modern driving not only easier, but safer?

The AA’s survey results proved what we already knew; that many of us find it easier to drive automatics. Without the gear stick and clutch pedal, you can better focus more on other aspects of driving, like vehicle position, speed, and the road ahead. You also won’t suffer any embarrassment from stalling the engine, making hill starts and traffic lights easier, too.

Automatic cars aren’t without their downsides, though. In September, we told you about the hidden faults affecting some of the most popular cars, including the Ford B-Max (2012-2017), and the problems with its PowerShift automatic transmission that affected 25% of owners. Automatics also cost around £1,000 more than their manual equivalents, although the price difference decreases on used models.

Drivers who only hold an automatic licence often pay much higher car insurance premiums than those with a full licence and, if you pass your driving test in an automatic, you’re only legally allowed to drive an automatic vehicle, while if you pass your test in a manual car, you can drive both manual and automatic vehicles.

The government is looking into bringing the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars forward to 2035 and, with EVs and hybrids growing ever more popular and advanced, it’s thought manual cars could disappear from UK roads within 10 years—something I remember my driving instructor predicting. I guess she was right. One thing’s for sure, driverless cars won’t have gears.

Do you drive a vehicle with an automatic or manual transmission? Have you driven both types? Which do you prefer? Tell us in the comments.