Has anyone taught someone to drive or learnt to drive without paid driving lessons?

[thefinalqualitystreet]

Hi everyone!

So I've been trying to learn to drive for the last few months but really with all the lockdowns, tiers, guidelines etc I haven't gotten very far. Now the new lockdown has been announced I feel like I've just wasted money on the lessons I've had so far and I really don't want to forget everything I've already learnt. I was aiming to have passed by September and at this rate I'll never be there. So DH has suggested I get insured on his car and we start having "lessons"...
I've had 4 hours worth of lessons so far and I haven't done any of the manoeuvres at all yet so we would have to start covering those.

Is this an absolutely awful idea? We are both quite relaxed, laidback people which I think will help but I don't know if I've got my head in the clouds and this is actually a disaster waiting to happen... Any advice from people who have been the learner or the teacher in this situation?

We did this for my son. Got him insured on our second, smaller car (Fiesta) which cost about £120 for 3 months. Taught him over last summer. He was ready for his test by September but due to all the COVID fuckery he couldn’t get a test til Dec. He had a couple of ‘proper’ lessons before his test to make sure he was doing everything right.

Passed first time and the examiner even told him what an excellent driver he was!

Might as well practice? Dd has had 3 x 2 hour lessons and her instructor said we should take her to an empty car park to practice. Dh has done that and then round a quiet estate. He's started showing her various manoeuvres. Bear in mind that it might be against the rules unless you are on an essential journey. Keyworkers are sometimes allowed lessons.

Currently teaching my son.
Fingers crossed- going well so far.
I was taught by a parent with some lessons at the end.
Good luck!

Oh, just to say, instructor said we shouldn't take her until she was at the stage where he didn't need to intervene with the dual controls.

I'm not sure you'll be at a level where you can be the one driving for essential trips at the moment.

Well my Dad tried teaching me. That did NOT go well. But worth a try I guess. I'd be a bit wary personally of taking someone onto the streets until they'd had a few lessons, because you don't have duel controls - but depends how quiet your area is I guess.

Of course. Dh has just started teaching Ds1. He would have started lessons but that may now be cancelled re lockdown.

It's always sensible to get someone into a car. Teach them where things are. Clutch control. Reverse parking. In a safe place, eg a huge car park. Big open space.
Then done basics.

Then have lessons. Then sit your test.

My dad did this for me. Dh's dad did it for him. Why you wouldn't do this, if you CAN, I can't understand.

It's only going to work if your partner is a good teacher. Even then, he's probably not going to know the standards expected of the driving test. There's a risk he teaches you bad habits, or techniques that were taught in his day but are no longer required.

(Two examples. Changing down through every gear when braking isn't taught nowadays because modern cars have better brakes. And "push-pull" steering is taught by most instructors but isn't required by the driving test, any technique is fine as long as you stay in full control.)

If you go ahead with it I say forget the manoeuvres except for the emergency stop. People fixate on them but they're a small part of the driving test, you can leave learning them until later. Just focus on general driving. Observations, positioning, clutch and steering control, and the ever-present challenge of figuring out what all the other idiots on the road are about to do.

It costs a couple of hundred quid to get dual controls fitted, though check the impact on insurance (usually very little). Definitely worth considering, it makes things better for the learner.