Auto Transmission Driving License to Be Introduced in Malaysia

Practicality is slowly but surely settling in as the Malaysian Transport Ministry has decided to introduce an auto transmission driving license to complement the already existing Class D driving license for cars. From May 2012 onwards, there will be two different types of the Class D license, the usual variant that we have now, as well as a new one that will be specific for only auto transmission vehicles.

This means that those that have no wish to drive manual transmission cars in their lives would now be spared from having to take their driving lessons and practical examination with a manual transmission car. Instead they can opt for the auto transmission driving license and obtain their licenses without much hassle. Nevertheless it must be understood that those that only own auto transmission driving licenses would not be able to drive a manual car on the road, as quite simply they would not know how and would jeopardize the life of themselves as well as others.

For driving school operators, this would mean that they would have to change the majority of their cars to auto transmission vehicles, as I expect most people who want to obtain their licenses in the future would opt for the auto version of the license. This is based on the fact that more and more auto transmission cars are being produced nowadays, and manual transmission vehicles are becoming few and far between. To accommodate this change of vehicles, the government has decided to give the driving school operators more time as it would be costly to switch the current batch of vehicles to auto variants.

Nevertheless those who want to learn and obtain their licenses with manual vehicles would still be able to as the driving school operators would need to accommodate both sets of license-seeking drivers. I laud this move as it is now more important to emphasize of road and driving safety than actually learning how to drive a vehicle. Hopefully through this change that makes it easier to learn how to drive and obtain a license, the government would now place more emphasis on educating Malaysian drivers on road safety and proper driving ethics!