Newbie

[gta123]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum. I'm 16 in a month and have already began taking under 17's driving lessons to help me hopefully pass my test as soon as I'm 17. Anyway just wondering weather I should buy a car when I'm 16 so I can get a feel for the car I will be tested in?

[Gareth]

just wondering weather I should buy a car when I'm 16 so I can get a feel for the car I will be tested in?

In which country will you be learning to drive?

Some test regimes prefer learners to use an instructor's car rather than their own, so that might colour your opinion.

When you are learning to drive, in jurisdictions where it is permitted, it can make a very big difference to be able to get some practice in between paid-for lessons.

[waremark]

Consider:

Where will you be able to drive before you are 17? Will you really have the opportunity to learn anything you have not already learned in the lessons you have had to date? It is certainly useful to know how to start and stop and change gear, and ideally to be able to do hill starts before the first time you go out on the road. However, in my opinion it does not much matter what car you do this in. While you would need some experience in the car in which you will take your test before the test, it would not be hard to change vehicles during the learning process.

How will your car be insured? You will probably not be able to get insurance in your own name before you are 17. After you are 17, the cost of insurance will probably still be an issue; please do not be tempted to insure a car in the name of one of your parents if you are really the main driver ('fronting'). If anything goes wrong you would be in very serious trouble.

Who will teach you to drive? Teaching early lessons on the public road is quite a responsibility. Many professional instructors will be reluctant to take you out for early lessons without dual controls. However, as Gareth says, later in the learning process private practise is very helpful.

I hope you enjoy learning to drive, and keep learning until you are a safe and expert driver!

[martine]

...I hope you enjoy learning to drive, and keep learning until you are a safe and expert driver!

That reminds me of jcochrane's (60+ years of driving and reaching the highest levels) post in another thread recently stating he's still a learner.

[waremark]

...I hope you enjoy learning to drive, and keep learning until you are a safe and expert driver!

That reminds me of jcochrane's (60+ years of driving and reaching the highest levels) post in another thread recently stating he's still a learner.

Yes, I should have said: 'and realise than you can enjoy continuing to learn for the rest of your driving career'.

[gta123]

I live in the united kingdom so Wales will be the country I learn to drive in. Anyway my grandparents own a large farm so I can practice on fields and if I'm feeling confident I can go on their private drive but it does have a lot of tourists around because they have cottages so I'd hate to run into someone. Tonight I went out with a friend who has been testing me on the main road with gears asking what gear I should be in and what signs and what the lines on the road means. So with a few fields which contain livestock and a private road should I get a car now or later on?

[Gareth]

I can practice on fields

In this case any practice you can afford will probably be useful.

When people learn to drive there is usually an initial phase where they have trouble with mechanical control -- raising the engine speed and raising the clutch to pull away, steering, changing gear, stopping -- so it's worth getting as much of that down pat before you go out on the roads, and so much the better if you don't need to think about it much, as then it means you are able to devote more concentration to dealing with hazards.

if I'm feeling confident I can go on their private drive but it does have a lot of tourists around

I think you might fall foul of the law here - even if it is private ground, if it is effectively open to the public then the laws relating to permission to drive apply.

If it's any help I remember my school friends who lived on farms mostly passed their tests very quickly after they were 17 since they were driving farm vehicles and old bangers in the fields when they were younger.

You might like to consider what Alan Clark wrote about how he learned to drive. In "Back Fire", I think, he mentioned that his father made him reverse around the farm -- he was told he had to learn to go backwards before he was allowed to go forwards!

[waremark]

For driving on fields you might want a different car from the one you will want later. For fields the lowest cost car which goes, not necessarily with an MOT.

[lordgrover]

... or your mum's mini, like I used to.

[fungus]

When I was at senior school back in the 1960s we had two cars, a Morris 8 and a Daimler with a pre selector gearbox. We used to carry out very basic maintenance on the, and the science master also taught us how to move the car and change gear, steer etc. Before my 17th birthday I'd had lots of practice in my brothers car on farm tracks at the back of Badbury Rings near Blandford Forum. Consequently when it came to my first on road driving lesson on my 17th birthday I had mastered basic car control and could reverse around a corner and do a three point turn, (turn in the road, the two maneouvres that were tested in those days. Three months and twelve lessons later I'd passed my test. So yes, the more practice the better.

As Gareth said, you could fall foul of the law if there are members of the public around, or you cause damage to someones property, ie. a neighbours boundary fence. The clubs that do under 17 driving lessons will have the necessary public liability/third party insurance.

[jcochrane]

I would agree with comments above that any practice you can get before 17 will help enormously. I was fortunate to have this opportunity as a youngster. On my 17th birthday I was given a driving lesson, as a present, only to be told by the instructor there was nothing further he could teach me so I put in for the test straight away and passed. Even my test was considerably shortened.

[michael769]

I think you might fall foul of the law here - even if it is private ground, if it is effectively open to the public then the laws relating to permission to drive apply.

Indeed and more importantly motor insurance is required in any place to which the public have access. Basically unless the drive is gated there is a high likelihood that insurance would be needed.