Learning to Drive

sawtooth

sawtooth

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My son turned 17 yesterday and we bought him some L plates and a 3 month insurance policy so that I can start taking him out on the road. (my God that makes you feel old).

The idea is for him to gain some experience and learn some of the basics before embarking on some proper lessons and then finally the test.

Things have no doubt changed a lot since I went through this myself, has anyone on here done this recently? Any tips, tricks, good websites, etc to know that would be great.

Also if you took your son or daughter out driving. how did it work out for you? I'm hoping that in 3-4 months he can go and pass his test.:eek:
 
i dont understand why you would want him to start in your car when you really cant control him or it from the passengers seat, surely hes better starting in lessons, in a dual control car with someone who does this for a living?
 
fundy said:
i dont understand why you would want him to start in your car when you really cant control him or it from the passengers seat, surely hes better starting in lessons, in a dual control car with someone who does this for a living?
Click to expand...
spot on advice ,I did this for my girl recently and my advice is don't.
you have no control whatsoever and I have never been so nervous in a car in my life.
This transferes to them and they get nervous.
send him to a professional for the basics then he can drive your car when he has a bit more experience.
 
I learned to drive on a massive disused and empty car park, nothing to hit.

One lesson the day before my test and passed first time.
For me it was all about familiarity and confidence
 
Its how I learned but then got told by the instructor that I had bad habits from having my dad teach me those basics. Would you take golf lessons from a plumber?


Heard that Wenger might have some free time soon...;)
 
Hobbit said:
Its how I learned but then got told by the instructor that I had bad habits from having my dad teach me those basics. Would you take golf lessons from a plumber?


Heard that Wenger might have some free time soon...;)
Click to expand...

Haha but the room you want is a few doors down on the right mate. Marked "and were off" , best to wait outside and listen before going in as it can be very noisy in there.😊

As Bobmac said it's mostly about getting confidence and familiarity. I will be on my best behaviour, hands 10 to 2 on the steering wheel , mirrors and everything.
 
My Dad taught me to drive, I failed two tests because I picked up his bad habits, then failed a third after taking some lessons to try and get out of said habits! If you're going to let him loose in your car do it the other way round, get an instructor to show him the basics first.
 
I did a bit of a hybrid with my gang, off road to gain familiarity with starting, stopping, gear changing, manoeuvring - then lessons for the rest topped up with practice
 
It all depends on how confident the "passenger" is..
If you're confident you can take over when they mess up - and they will - then carry on.
Don't shout at them.
Stay calm
Start somewhere quiet and build up to the busier roads.
Cover all bases - town, rural, estates and any faster roads too.
Find out where the local test centre is and look for "tricky" areas that they might take candidates through.
Keep an eye on all signs and react to them early - if it says STOP then stop!
Parallel park, reverse left around a corner, turn in the road and reverse bay park are the manoevres plus, maybe, an emergency stop
10 minutes independent driving either following signs to somewhere or following a series of direction s - 3rd right, 2nd left, right at the roundabout..
Show me /tell me questions about safety checks on the car available online,..19 questions, they get asked 2 .Could include opening the bonnet and pointing out oil, coolant, brake fluid..
Get a second mirror from Halfords. You need to be able to see behind as well.
Keep aware, look early....

Welcome to my world!
 
You need to find a large empty hard standing area to get the billy basics sorted. Turnberry airport is our local spot.
Once the kangaroo jumps finish and you feel they have reasonable control..........bring in the professionals.
 
Imurg said:
It all depends on how confident the "passenger" is..
If you're confident you can take over when they mess up - and they will - then carry on.
Don't shout at them.
Stay calm
Start somewhere quiet and build up to the busier roads.
Cover all bases - town, rural, estates and any faster roads too.
Find out where the local test centre is and look for "tricky" areas that they might take candidates through.
Keep an eye on all signs and react to them early - if it says STOP then stop!
Parallel park, reverse left around a corner, turn in the road and reverse bay park are the manoevres plus, maybe, an emergency stop
10 minutes independent driving either following signs to somewhere or following a series of direction s - 3rd right, 2nd left, right at the roundabout..
Show me /tell me questions about safety checks on the car available online,..19 questions, they get asked 2 .Could include opening the bonnet and pointing out oil, coolant, brake fluid..
Get a second mirror from Halfords. You need to be able to see behind as well.
Keep aware, look early....

Welcome to my world!
Click to expand...

Great advice Ian many thanks. :thup:
 
Another vote for doing it the other way around. Lessons first definately.
Even after lessons I would advise to try hard not to tread on your imaginary brake pedal in the passenger footwell. Don't show signs of nervousness such as gripping your seatbelt or door handle, or sharp intakes of breath! You will only transfer your nerves onto them.
 
My son had driving lessons first. I told him to ask the instructor to let him know when he's ready to go out with me for practice. That time duly came and I was surprised at how competent his driving was.

So, plenty of practice with no scary moments and he passed first time!

Makes so much sense to do it this way round.
 
For both my daughters when they were this age, I bought them a cheap Nissan Micra. They then had lessons with an instructor, and we insured the car in their name on a specialist leaner driver policy. Once they had had a few lessons, I took them out in their car to quiet locations and concentrated on clutch control, parking and the like. It worked for both of them, reducing their instructor lesson time by some way and saving money on that front. It also had the added benefit of getting them on the insurance ladder and to start gaining a good history that helped a little once they had passed and they had to reinsure as a qualified driver.
I understand mine were in a lucky position, but both are excellent at parking and judging gaps....much better than their mum who has been driving much much longer than they.
 
I am 46, when I was 16 I got a moped and then at 17 a 125cc passed my test and moved on to a RD 350cc.

I then decided to learn to drive with my dad, my first lesson I lost control and crashed through my neighbour's front garden.

I actually passed my car driving test when I was 44 on 22/12/2015.

I regret I did not just have lessons with an instructor, my dad was useless and put me off for 30 years nearly.

My driving instructor bitched constantly about parents giving lessons, he says they turn up for their lesson with him and in the space of a week or 2 have picked up poor habits that their parents have and he said plenty of people failed due to the inconsistency.

I have a good example of this, 2 days before my test my instructor rang and said he had fell over and hurt his back and he couldn't supply a car or come to my test. He suggested I drive my wife's car (yeah right a C-Max).

In the end a stand in instructor stood in in a different car. The hour before my test I had a recap booked and after 15 minutes of this stand in trying to show me a totally different way to reverse round a corner, turn in the road and parrellel park I asked him to stop and forget the lesson it was just too confusing.

Anyways I passed by no thanks to him.

These days most lessons are 2 hours and you get plenty of practice and time to learn and I don't understand why it is even allowed. No one would be happy if your kid turned up at school not to be taught by a teacher or that landscape gardener came to rewire your house.

Let them have a few lessons and then maybe reinforce some of it if you can but don't start them off wrong. I was driving by the end of my first lesson no problem, the accelerator and steering are easy it's the rest that's difficult.
 
It's not that kids pick up bad habits from their patents per se, it's that parents don't pull the kids up on errors due to the fact that, that's how the parents drive and do not think any mistakes are being made.
 
Took my son out tonight for about 2 hrs.

Started in a car park and then went onto some quiet non residential roads. He then drove me home on the main roads. Covered a lot of ground in one night. Not bad for first effort.

Some tantrums especially on the hill start where he stalled countless times but I was alright after that. :-)

Funny thing was , he was all over the place steering wise when I thought that would be the easiest thing to conquer.
 
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