ADUK Archive

Would you let your son or daughter take driving lessons on private land with a ADI instructor even before they have reached 17?

Let me know what you thing. Maybe give for and against.

[advertising link removed by moderators]

Absolutely.

I started my youngest daughter when she was about 13.

There is a young drivers organisation based in Wiltshire that enable youngsters (youngest they accept is 10 if I remember correctly) to drive with their parents. Tuition is provided.

If you are going to allow your offspring out with an ADI check their insurance covers them, much of the standard ADI insurance only covers from age 16, my broker had to hunt around to find one for ANY age!

I'm in total agreement with Nigel on this one.

IIRC, research suggests that those who learn at an early age appear to make safer drivers. There is also the benifit that attitudes should not be too entrenched at an earlier age, and the essential controll skills will be well developed before they are allowed out on the road, allowing their ADI to concentrate on hazard awareness and interacting with other road users, as well as the legal aspects of owning and driving a car etc.

I think you may be referring to the Under 17 Car Club that meets at Castle Combe. It also meets at other places too. An excellent scheme, where they have instructors and the parents to teach them. They have the opportunity to do a great deal of other things too, including car maintenance, first aid, skid pan, as they get older and more confident they also have the opportunity to drive HGV's which gives them the perspective of what view a lorry driver has. http://www.under17-carclub.co.uk

Several of them have taken their test and then also the RoSPA test passing at all three grades. There is also evidence that they have less accidents than other young drivers.

Monica

Thanks Monica, I was kinda hoping you or Nick would elaborate

djparkin wrote:Would you let your son or daughter take driving lessons on private land with a ADI instructor even before they have reached 17?

Let me know what you thing. Maybe give for and against.

[advertising link removed by moderators]

Sort of a boring question, because all of us here are likely to think yes. No-one has suggested a reason against, and I certainly cannot think of one.

I suggest that a more interesting question is whether it is a good idea to let kids muck about on their own in cars on private land - many a farmer's son does so. There is a big potential con here, not even considering the safety aspects; are bad habits likely to become engrained, before an ADI has had a chance to teach good habits?

All my three children learned car control skills before they were 17. They went on to pass their tests first time, and most importantly none of them has crashed or claimed yet.

Getting to grips with the controls early before going out on the road has to be a good thing

My IAM Group agrees, as we have been running such a course for 29 years using ADIs on private roads for many years - see http://www.worcsgam.org.uk/ - Under 17 drivers' scheme.
Others such schjemes are run by Stratford on Avon and Essex IAM Groups and a summary of similar schemes in the UK can be viewed on the IAM's web pages at http://www.iam.org.uk/links_car_driver/ ... cheme.html

Hi,

Bit of a boring question maybe but still very relevant to what we all aim at on this site.

I taught myself to drive when I was 11 and at 16 I was moving brand new vehicles around a forecourt, in and out of workshop and showroom etc, all of which means I can now thread my vehicle through virtually any gap or into any space more or less at any speed I like.

Any practice a youngster can get, under supervision away from traffic has to be good if it is done correctly, very often it is not the actual driving the learner struggles with but basics such as clutch control, steering control all of which are vital on todays crowded streets.

Once clutch. steering, brakes etc are operated almost without thinking then the learner can concentrate on observation, planning and all the other tasks they need to master.

Am I right in thinking that in the states Schools operate a young driver scheme, teaching kids from 14-15?

Go for it, got to make the roads safer for everybody


Ivor

IVORTHE DRIVER wrote:....Am I right in thinking that in the states Schools operate a young driver scheme, teaching kids from 14-15?...

Well that could be an argument against it then, the US road safety is a fair way behind ours!

Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at the IAM, quoted in last week's Autocar, when asked what he would do if he were Transport Minister for the day, said the following. Thankfully, he took the opportunity to advocate more and better driver education. On new driver education:

"I would start young with consistent road safety education in the curriculum. Then I would give all 15 and 16 year olds a chance behind the wheel in a safe environment to deal with the basics of car control and have their early attitude to safety assessed. This would give much more time at 17 to build experience on a wide variety of roads, including motorways - where learners would be permitted - and night driving in the countryside. Currently, we don't include 60 mph roads in the test, so I'd change that immediately as well.
To counter the high risk of a crash in the first six months of driving, I would bring in a new licensing system with three interventions in the first year. These would look at attitudes, bad habits and eco driving and train new skills such as skid control. There would not be any restrictions on night driving, car size or passenger numbers, as I believe these limt opportunities to learn."

waremark wrote:Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at the IAM, quoted in last week's Autocar, when asked what he would do if he were Transport Minister for the day, said the following. Thankfully, he took the opportunity to advocate more and better driver education. On new driver education:

"I would start young with consistent road safety education in the curriculum. Then I would give all 15 and 16 year olds a chance behind the wheel in a safe environment to deal with the basics of car control and have their early attitude to safety assessed. This would give much more time at 17 to build experience on a wide variety of roads, including motorways - where learners would be permitted - and night driving in the countryside. Currently, we don't include 60 mph roads in the test, so I'd change that immediately as well.
To counter the high risk of a crash in the first six months of driving, I would bring in a new licensing system with three interventions in the first year. These would look at attitudes, bad habits and eco driving and train new skills such as skid control. There would not be any restrictions on night driving, car size or passenger numbers, as I believe these limt opportunities to learn."

Nice one Mr. Greig...good to see the HQ message can be right sometimes (at least in my view)

waremark wrote:

Neil Greig wrote:Currently, we don't include 60 mph roads in the test, so I'd change that immediately as well.

Well I know the councils are doing their "best" to remove NSL/60 roads, but I didn't realise it had gone this far!

crr003 wrote:

waremark wrote:

Neil Greig wrote:Currently, we don't include 60 mph roads in the test, so I'd change that immediately as well.

Well I know the councils are doing their "best" to remove NSL/60 roads, but I didn't realise it had gone this far!

I presume "we don't include 60 mph roads in the test" means that examiners are not required to take candidates on 60 mph roads, not that examiners are not permitted to take candidates on such roads. From a test centre based in a city, I wonder how easy it is to find a stretch of interesting NSL, of the sort that young (and not so young) drivers tend to fall off, within a 45 minute round trip? (Are driving tests still that duration?)

Test centres I have taken pupils to included NSL country roads and also NSL dual carriageways so I have no idea where this chap sourced his info from!