To think I can drive 4 hours per day, 4 times a week as a newly qualified driver?

[Psych101B]

I am starting a university course in September and am unable to move closer to the university due to various reasons. The drive from my house is 2 hours each way. I passed my test in 2023 but haven’t driven much since (only short drives to local supermarkets etc) as I’ve been saving up to buy a car.

Am I being unrealistic in thinking that if I get a car in April and do intensive driving practice between then and September, that I will be confident and able to drive for 4 hours per day 4 times a week?

To be honest even for an experienced driver, 4 hours of driving a day, 4 times a week is a lot

Just to add (not sure if it’s relevant) I would be leaving my house to drive between 7-8 and making my way back at 3:45

If you practice lots from April onwards then you should be ok

Of course you will be able to. Some people pass their test and almost immediately become professional drivers who drive for a lot longer.

It does sound a bit miserable though. Are you sure you will have to go in 4 days a week? And can you afford the fuel?

You'll be fine. Perhaps go for some long drives, including a drive to the university and back with an older relative before the start of the course?

I personally didn’t think it would be an issue, however my parents keep saying they’re worried about me driving for such a long time so I’ve been second guessing the decision!

I might be a bit naive about fuel costs… to get a monthly season ticket to get to the uni would cost £1,000! I felt confident that fuel wouldn’t cost as much but maybe I’m wrong about that

Forget the confidence issue, that will be exhausting on top of a uni day. Is a train not an option?
It will likely take more than 4 hours too. A colleague lives 40 mins away from work, her journey regularly takes a lot longer due to traffic volume and regular accidents or breakdowns causing tailbacks. It can add 30 mins on to her short journey.

I think you'd be ok but why not book a couple of extra 'specialist ' lessons , like night time driving , moterway driving , even if you are not going on a motorway to uni it will come in handy or something like a speed awareness course.

Is the 2 hours including traffic? Because where I am, a journey that takes 2 hours at 7-8am would take 45 minutes to an hour at 3:45… and so I’m concerned that it’s actually longer than 4 hours in the car.

Yes it’s doable, but as someone who does 15,000 miles a year and has done consistently for 10 years with 17 years of driving experience, I wouldn’t be keen to do that much driving every week.

Being able to do it and having the will to do it week in, week out are two different things. What other time you have to relax and what other distractions and pressures in your life will also have an impact.

Op I drive about half that or a bit less (took 45 mins today but it’s Friday) to work most days and would certainly not want to double it.

Probs costs me about £40 in fuel (little car) but also wear and tear is a big factor - depending on actual mileage you’d need new tyres every 25k (that’s about every year for me) plus service at least twice a year.

What mileage would you do? My work commute is about 1-1500 miles pm but then I do a lot of driving for my hobby and other reasons so it’s about 25k pa.

If your 2hour drive is (say) 60 miles (which it will be at least,, unless it is very rural) then that’s 500 miles pw so even with shorter uni terms, about 17k per year.

Definitely look at the fuel costs. Also consider parking charges, how much your insurance costs will increase because of all the extra miles, plus the cost of the extra wear and tear on the car – all the stuff that needs to be done based on mileage, you'll need to do much more often.

Another thing to consider is that driving is (largely) dead time. If you're going by train, you can sit with a textbook/tablet/laptop and get quite a lot of your work for uni done.

It’s not so much the ability to do it, I’m sure you’ll manage that amount on its own, but as a pp said, on top of a day at uni you will find it very tiring. I think doing this day in day out would personally be too much, you need to be 100% focused on the road and I’d be worried that tiredness would start to effect your driving ability. Just my 2p.

I think it will be unpleasant but doable. I had a job where I had to commute to ridiculous places (1-2hrs each way every week day). It was hideous for the first 12 months but by the time I'd done 10,000 miles I was way better at driving and much more confident.

That is a lot of commuting especially in all weathers. Will you definitely need to attend four days? Will you be able to park there or os there a cost to that?

I think you’ll be fine. Especially as you have train as an alternative so if you wake up exhausted and it won’t be safe to drive you can get train occasionally.

You should be fine from the perspective of driving safely and confidently. But that schedule sounds absolutely exhausting and unsustainable. What are the reasons you can't move closer to the university?

Best way to learn is to drive, the first few days will be hard, but after a month or two it will be second nature. I did similar when I got my first job, bought a car and just did it. Join the AA, RAC or another recovery company, with that amount of driving you may need help at some point.

OP has learnt to drive.

Absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to drive but don't underestimate the costs of a car. That kind of commute will be a large amount in fuel (plus insurance, upkeep, tyres, servicing, road tax etc).

Let's say 2 hours each way is 100 miles - at 800 miles a week I'd be paying over £100 a week in fuel alone. Insurance will be expensive if you've only passed a couple of years ago. It'll be cheaper than the season ticket, but not loads cheaper I'd say. So if you'd rather get the train and are driving to save money, I wouldn't bother.

Do you need a car for anything else? Season ticket probably cheaper than cost of car and running costs

I don't think it's so much your driving ability that would be a problem, as the fact that is really tiring to drive that far every day.

And remember that uni isn't just about the hours you spend on campus - more of your time is supposed be spent in private study than at lectures etc. So that's 16 hours a week gone that you could have been spending on your uni work.

And do you need to work an actualy job as well to earn money? And when is your down time, hobbies, socialising etc.?

I don't think it's realistic or sustainable for you to do that daily drive for long. If you really can't move to your uni town, I would suggest either getting the train (if there is a conveniant route), or consider finding a uni closer to home. You can still apply for next year, or there will be lots of spaces at clearing in the summer.

You’ll become an experienced driver very quickly. You should be ok, leave plenty of time, make sure you are not distracted or tired when you are driving. It will quickly become dark in the evening so that is the hardest time while you’re new.

It is a lot, how long are you expecting to keep that up for? It will make completing the course a great deal harder to lose that much time to travel each day.

As others have said, the drive probably wouldn’t be that problematic, but that amount of travel time that often would likely be exhausting and miserable. What are your other options?

Learning to drive (passing your test) is only the start of actually learning to drive, ie, in different sorts of traffic, in all weathers, over long distances, coping with unexpected events on the road. If you drive 4 hours a day 4 days a week you will experience a lot and learn a lot. After a while you know the route, where the problems might be, etc, etc, it just all becomes so much easier with experience.