A report by Aviva found that new drivers are having an average of only 29.9hours of professional tuition whereas the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) who conduct driving tests in the UK recommend 45hours of professional tuition as well at least 22 hours private practice with parents.

readyYoung drivers are still top on the at risk list, with the first 250mile been the most dangerous where new drivers are seven times more likely to have a crash than any other driver. A2om.com

Parents play a vital role in the learning to drive process, any private practice can be great for a students’ development.  Staffordshire County Council are running a scheme to help parents engage with this process more called The Young Driver Coaching Programme.

ydcpIt provides materials and information which helps the communication between the Professional instructor and the Parent; the booklet provides advice on how to conduct the private practice sessions and enables the parent to feedback to the instructor and vice-versa.  A common issue is where parents allow their children to drive on a route which is not suitable (too difficult) for them, this can put both parent and child in a stressful and potentially dangerous situation, the coaching programme aims to tackle that issue.

This programme also offers parents to get involved post test with a device fitted to the car where they can monitor the behaviour and driving style of their youngster from Greenroad Technolgies – it is unobtrusive, can cut insurance costs and ulimately make new drivers safer.

Avivas’ survey goes on to suggest

one in 10 young drivers say they are not ready to take out a car alone and should NOT have passed the test

More than one in four young drivers (27%) in the study had no practice lessons at all with their parents and 33% had less than 10 hours with family members before sitting their tests

Check out our Parents of new drivers infomation page, and our blog entry on “Am I ready for my test?”