Teaching kids to drive

[Collectingbrass]

My eldest is now old enough to learn to drive =-o and I'm thinking of DIY teaching to start with =-o =-o =-o

How long do you think before they'd be ok to drive for journeys rather than "circuits and bumps" round the local industrial estate at early o'clock on Sundays?

[trickywoo]

A couple of 1 to 2 hour sessions as you describe should be enough to get out on some quiet roads.

[McHaggis]

I'd get him to have a few lessons with dual controls first until he gets the basics. Easy to panic when you are a very new driver.

For the sake of 3 lessons, that's a good saving off your clutch and dented rims, etc...

[Merlin28]

My dad taught me how to drive the best thing he taught me was clutch control in a car park took me a couple of nights to master but after that driving was relatively easy. He made me move the car from a standing start by just using the clutch in gear one then from a standing start in gear 2 onece I had mastered gear one. It took me about four nights to do this.

[anonymous-user]

trickywoo said:

A couple of 1 to 2 hour sessions as you describe should be enough to get out on some quiet roads.

I think this would be fine.

I had a bit of a baptism of fire... On my 17th birthday my dad turned up to school to pick me up, slapped some magnetic L plates on his car and said "you drive"...

This was in the bedlam of the school run traffic with cars absolutely everywhere.

I had been driving for several years though so I knew 'how to drive', but just not on a road with other cars!!

Somehow we made it home without incident and my DIY lessons with mum/dad went from there, but that was combined with a couple of hours per week off an actual driving instructor.

But yes, in all seriousness, a quiet time at a quiet place would be a good place to start.

Enjoy!

[aka_kerrly]

I have to admit I never given the opportunity to go out practising with parents so the only instruction I received was in a instructor's car.

I can appreciate many people will say nothing bad happened to them and it was free/ allowed them to drive their own car etc but to me it always seems like a very bad idea to let someone with zero experience drive on a public road in a car without dual control.

[aka_kerrly]

I have to admit I never given the opportunity to go out practising with parents so the only instruction I received was in a instructor's car.

I can appreciate many people will say nothing bad happened to them and it was free/ allowed them to drive their own car etc but to me it always seems like a very bad idea to let someone with zero experience drive on a public road in a car without dual control.

[McHaggis]

aka_kerrly said:

I can appreciate many people will say nothing bad happened to them and it was free/ allowed them to drive their own car etc but to me it always seems like a very bad idea to let someone with zero experience drive on a public road in a car without dual control.

^^^ this, at least until the basics have been mastered in free traffic with dual controls. Doesn't have to take long, a couple of lessons should do it, but I think you need to be in a few scenarios with an instructor acting as a safety net first.

[anonymous-user]

I was taught by an instructor but after a few lessons my dad got me insured on his car and basically I agreed if my parents needed driving anywhere I would drive them.

My Dad refused to teach me anything as despite being Class 1 Police he said he would have lots of bad habits still that could make me fail, he said you need to learn how to pass the test, then I will teach you how to drive

Worked for me passed first time then he taught me a load of other stuff like commentary etc which I still find myself doing now in my head from time to time

[mondeoman]

My daughters first lesson with me as a 150 mile cross country drive, at night, in the winter.

Her third was the same journey in reverse, in the snow.

Still took her three attempts to pass her test.

[McHaggis]

I always thought commentary would be a good addition to the test - better than the semi-interactive dvds that test your risk perception. The examiner would get a very good understanding of what you are seeing and processing as you drive.

[anonymous-user]

McHaggis said:

I always thought commentary would be a good addition to the test - better than the semi-interactive dvds that test your risk perception. The examiner would get a very good understanding of what you are seeing and processing as you drive.

I was a little bit when he said this was one of the things he was going to teach me, I was expecting J Turns and Fast Road techniques but I was surprised at how interesting it was especially when we took turns and I could see how easily and quickly he did it with much more content than me

I was lucky though my Dad has a lot of experience, I wasn't allowed to do my Car licence without having a Moped/Dirt Bike for a year first, his rational was if you spend a year in fear of everything hitting you, pulling out on you etc then you will be a better driver

I still do livesavers on the motorway even now

[aka_kerrly]

McHaggis said:

I always thought commentary would be a good addition to the test - better than the semi-interactive dvds that test your risk perception. The examiner would get a very good understanding of what you are seeing and processing as you drive.

This is a good idea!

It also teaches people how to multi task, if you cannot drive a car whilst commenting on what you are doing you surely have no hope of driving with passengers on board as a distraction.

[Collectingbrass]

Collectingbrass said:

My eldest is now old enough to learn to drive =-o and I'm thinking of DIY teaching to start with =-o =-o =-o

How long do you think before they'd be ok to drive for journeys rather than "circuits and bumps" round the local industrial estate at early o'clock on Sundays?

Having been given a quote of £2,300 to put her on my tatty shed, for the remaining 9 months of the current policy, she can carry on developing her skills on the PS3!

[McHaggis]

Collectingbrass said:

Having been given a quote of £2,300 to put her on my tatty shed, for the remaining 9 months of the current policy, she can carry on developing her skills on the PS3!

Have you tried these guys: http://www.collingwoodlearners.co.uk/

(read the conditions carefully)

[AJordan]

From the age of about 12/13 my Dad taught me how to drive in his Land Rover in an empty field where we used to go on holiday, as as my 17th drew nearer, I often used my nans Suzuki Alto (the worlds most uncool car)

If I compare to my friends stories, I'd say these few hours a couple of times a year could have saved me four or five 'real' lessons at least, as the learning about the mechanics of the clutch etc, and countless times spent kangarooing and stalling were done in my own time, and not when I was paying a driving school.

On my first lesson, I just got straight in the instructors car, and off we went, no fuss

Go for it, its invaluable

[bicycleshorts]

AJordan said:

From the age of about 12/13 my Dad taught me how to drive in his Land Rover in an empty field where we used to go on holiday, as as my 17th drew nearer, I often used my nans Suzuki Alto (the worlds most uncool car)

If I compare to my friends stories, I'd say these few hours a couple of times a year could have saved me four or five 'real' lessons at least, as the learning about the mechanics of the clutch etc, and countless times spent kangarooing and stalling were done in my own time, and not when I was paying a driving school.

On my first lesson, I just got straight in the instructors car, and off we went, no fuss

+1

Saved a load of money, time and probably embarrassment compared to:
"now pull away"
stall
"now pull away"
stall
"now pull away"
stall
"£30 please"

Also recommending learning to pull away using only the clutch (i.e. no throttle) to learn clutch control.

[Vieste]

They all teach now with just clutch no hand break sounds dodgy but it works.

[GTIR]

My mum taught me when I was 12yo in her Mini at the local car park, in the early 80's.

It allowed me to nick my dads Cortina (MkV).
Luckily it ran out of petrol.

[Eddh]

NinjaPower said:

I had a bit of a baptism of fire... On my 17th birthday my dad turned up to school to pick me up, slapped some magnetic L plates on his car and said "you drive"...

I had the same thing.

My Dad took me out for my first drive on my 17th Birthday in his car. It was as follows:

Range Rover - check
4.2L V8 - Check
Long Wheel Base - Check
Knackered Air Suspension - Check

Perfect first car to learn to drive in... I had been able to drive for years but never on the road!