Teaching your children how to drive, right or wrong?

TONY R

i taught both my sons and my wife to drive,and the hardest one was my wife,in her 30s, my youngest son passed his test two weeks after his 17th birthday.And they all passed 1st time, my dad taught me to drive off road from the age of 8 years.From the age of 12 i was racing go karts, and i was driving my mates car on the road when i was 14, but that was in the late 70s, so i would say go for it,one tip! don,t argue with you dad just do as he tells you and good luck

Britbloke

If you are being taught under age on a public road, it's wrong, illegal and incredibly stupid and irresponsible of your father. Even if it appears deserted, if you have an accident and hurt someone (including yourself and your father) you will be uninsured and driving without a licence. Your father will be aiding and abetting. I find it absolutely incredible that a father would put a child of his in the position of committing such a serious offence.

If it is 'off road' it's fine.

Tedward

Off road and with the land owners permission then fine, but, some parents are the last you want teaching you. Better to have professional tuition from day one.

If it is on the queens highway then it is against the law underage and with no licence. And you would have no insurance. Ironically you face a ban if caught.

Driving is very serious. It should be taken as such and treated as such.

Sorry to be a stick in the mud but I also get around some out of the way places and to come up against a driver with no experience and insurance rattles my cage.

UCANTCME

You need your parents for everything but learning to drive needs to be taught by a certified instructor...

angryish

best to go with someone profesional like BSM or AA
get bad habits of parents and they can be a lot less patient.
the instructors car also has levers to stop you crashing!

fellbuddy

You say you will be driving' on roads away from anything' - that is illegal. If you go off road that is legal. It is not a good idea to be taught by anyone other than a qualified instructor.

googler_47

I would say wrong from personal experience. When you are taught by your parents you pick up bad habits and are then even more difficult to teach. When you start learning to drive with a driving instructor you are a blank canvas and can learn correctly from the beginning. It is good to practise with a parents after you have had a good few hours learning with an instructor but I wouldn't recommend a parent alone teaching you to drive. Xx

gtcelt

Driving Instructors have taken difficult training courses and tests to enable the best safety and practical advice possible.

When a house is being built it isn't good practice to just lay the bricks out and build up, they dig and lay solid foundations so as the building doesn't collapse when put under stress when a strong wind comes along.

An instructor does the same with his/her pupils..... he will give you a good solid foundation of knowledge in order for you to be able to handle any situation you may come across whilst you are driving, rather than sitting behind a wheel and thinking 'oh crap, what will I do here'?

I would only practice with parents etc. when all your good habits are in place and you want more frequency of driving in preperation for an impending test.

Being keen is a good thing to have in order to learn, but doing it before you can legally drive on the roads isn't too beneficial. Intense training when you're at the required age would be better.

Knowing your theory and hazard and being ready to sit and pass when on your 17th birthday would be something you should be thinking more about.

In America, I wouldn't describe it as the hardest test in the world and most of their cars are automatic rather than with gears..... not much skill of driving doing that.

Good luck when the time comes.

As with would I trust my child...... yes, as she is taking proper training. If I didn't have the training, I'd soon feel out of my depth and rather nervous.

Bardic

First thing, you must have a provisional licence to drive on the highway, whether it's "away from anything" or not, and you must be 17 to do this, unless you receive certain disability allowances when you can be 16. If you get caught on the highway without a licence etc not only may you be prosecuted but your dad will too.

Secondly, it's not a good idea for a parent to teach their offspring, as they will almost certainly have picked up some bad habits along the way. Furthermore, you'll be bringing too much baggage into the car with you.

sgoldperson

Well you heard slightly wrong about the U.S. anyway. In the U.S. you could teach your kids to drive on PRIVATE PROPERTY. So if you owned a farm or something you could drive around your yard and that's fine. You still can't go on the streets legally. I'd assume England looks at it the same way. If you have the property holders permission then cops can't pull you over for driving without a license, because it is private property. If you went on the roads that is public property.

grenmatta

If your Dad is teaching you to drive on a public road that is illegal. So your first lesson is that you can ignore the law if you think you can get away with it!
If you have somewhere off-road to practice then that is OK but remember when you go on to take "proper" lessons that your instructor has been trained to teach you and has up-to-date knowledge that your Dad may not posess - so listen and learn.

Jan409

I don't see anything wrong with teaching your child to drive, off road

Your father must be a very patient man, as I could never teach anyone to drive, I would just be a bag of nerves

I'm sure I read a while back about someone in England who passed their driving test ON their 17th birthday,presumably because he had been taught off road for all his lessons

Good Luck,and I'm sure you'll pass your driving test very soon

WelshLad

Instructors know exactly what examiners are looking for e.g. mirror signal manoeuvre, parents don't.

ms bell

My dad taught me how to drive when I was 15. Then I got a Learner's Permit and could drive with any adult. I got my Driver's License at 16 and could drive on my own. I've been driving for 30 years now. My dad taught me how to drive in a big parking lot that doesn't have much traffic. Then we took to the road on streets that weren't very busy. He was a good driver and a good teacher. He passed his driving skills on to me. He also taught my sister and even my mom how to drive. We are all good drivers. I say go for it! Dads are the best when it comes to learning driving. I live in the U.S., by the way. I know that kids can learn to drive at 17 in the U.K. I wouldn't see anything wrong with your dad teaching you how to drive. Good luck!

Michael S

Go to a driving instructor qualified to teach.

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