Germans love manual cars, but more and more automatics are hitting the road. Now the transport minister wants to change how people get their driver's license.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/I. Kjer
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German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer wants to change the rules for obtaining a driver's license for manual and automatic cars.
Germany has a long and expensive system for getting a driver's license, including practical and written tests as well as a mandatory first aid course. There are also separate practical driving tests for manual and automatic cars.
Scheuer intends to change the law so that anyone who passes the automatic practical test will also be able to drive a stick shift after receiving training with a manual car. Drivers would no longer need to pass a practical driving test for a manual car.
He justifies the measure as a way to promote all-electric cars, which have no need of gears in the way that internal combustion engines do.
More and more automatic cars are hitting the roads. According to the German Automobile Trust, last year 47.5% of vehicles that left the production line were automatics. Eight years ago the number was 27.4% and in 2000 it stood at 19.6%.
TÜV, an association that carries out practical and written driving tests, came out against any changes out of concern that too many people would be out on the road without sufficient skill at using a manual transmission.
Others see the issue differently. Andreas Grünewald from the Saxony Driving Instructors' Association said that for many people, obtaining a manual driver's license added to an already lengthy and expensive process.
Myths and facts about Germany's highways
A bill on a road toll for cars using Germany's highways has cleared a final hurdle from regional states despite a lack of exceptions for border regions. The nation's autobahn network is unlikely to lose its attraction.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
Oldest highway
Berlin's inner-city AVUS is widely considered to be Germany's oldest autobahn. It was built between 1913 and 1921. Back then, it was only 10 km (6.2 miles) long. And because it was so short, many call the AVUS an autobahn prototype.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
'Vehicles-only road'
The first "proper" autobahn in Germany went into operation on August 6, 1932, connecting Cologne and Bonn. Literally translated, the highway was officially called "vehicles-only road." Today, the stretch is part of the A555 autobahn.
Image: DW/M. Nelioubin
Debunking the Hitler myth
Historians make a point of emphasizing that the myth about Adolf Hitler commissioning the building of the first German autobahn is just that - a myth. The highway mentioned in the previous slide was a project initiated by the then lord mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer.
Image: picture-alliance/ dpa/dpaweb
Highway 1 - the champion
A look at national statistics around the globe reveals that Australia boasts the longest highway. Its National Highway (also known as Highway 1) spans the whole continent, having a total length of well over 14,000 km (8,700 miles).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Amazing network
Germany for its part is known for one of the densest highway networks with a total length of roughly 13,000 km (8,077 miles). While this makes up only 6 percent of all long-distance roads in the country, almost a third of total road traffic depends on it.
Image: Universum Film
Looming highway toll
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt hopes the introduction of a passenger car toll for highways in Germany will wash around 500 million euros ($535 million) into state coffers annually. Opponents argue that's a myth, citing enormous infrastructure costs to collect the toll.
