Driving lessons - is this normal?

[Candleinalantern]

So DD has started her driving lessons, booked a block of 10 lessons. The first lesson she didn’t drive, the instructor just drove around and told her about the car, the second lesson he drove 15 mins away let her drive for 30 mins and then he drove her back.

is this normal? AIBU to expect that she would be driving straight away and at least be driving all of the second lesson?

I passed my driving test 6 years ago.

When I had my first lesson I was picked up by my instructor, he did tell me about car while he drove, been asking about my car experience etc. Then he parked on a very quiet road and I was driving up and down as I was very nervous.
Next couple lessons he also picked me up and drove to very big Sainsbury's car park and i was driving around there for a bit, start stopped etc. It was quite few lessons before I was allowed on the roads

My daughter started a couple of months ago. The first lesson she just drove round and round a car park, the second lesson the same but then also drove on the roads 5 mins back to college (with the instructor's hand one the wheel!). Didn't properly drive on the roads until the third lesson.

My son drove straight away but what's irritated me is that it's all 2 hour lessons round here, which is expensive. It's often longer as he will be picked up 'on the way' (say, 20 mins early) in someone else's lesson. Then drive for 2 hours then pick up someone else and they drive him home so it can be at least 2.5 hours.

DS is 18 and his first lesson he didn't drive the car, no. He did from second lesson onwards.

Same applied for myself over 20 years ago.

Both mine were driving on the road in the first lessons. Driven to and from home by the instructor but definitely drove themselves.

DS had 2hr lessons. First lesson he was take to a business park and had a little drive around. The instructor drove him back across town.

IIRC he did that for a couple of weeks before gradually driving on main roads.

Mine is out at his first lesson right now but his instructor said he would be driving later on in the lesson. It’s a two hour lesson so maybe if it had only been one hour he wouldn’t have got a go.

It really all depends on how far away you live from a suitable training area.
I would expect to at least do some driving on a first lesson though - steering practise and biting points in a car park for example.
But you would be unreasonable and expecting too much for someone to be ‘driving around’ straight away.

I'd expect them to do some driving even in the first lesson. But it does depend on how far you live from a suitable quiet area. You could ask the instructor if you could meet somewhere (rather than DD being picked up from home) to maximise her driving time.

My dc all did but they were confident from the off. The first lesson was on an industrial estate, mainly left turns. Took a few lessons before they drove off from the house though.

I'd expect some driving in every lesson, yes. Not necessarily driving all of the lesson, because at least early on they need to get to a place where it is safe to practise, and instructors will probably have preferred places they know will be suitable for beginners.

I think it's normal that in the first lessons the instructor will drive somewhere suitable and let you practise there, such as starting and stopping, gears, getting the hang of the car etc. I tried to learn to drive in the UK when I was 17 but it became stressful with A-levels so I stopped and then didn't need a car for years. I do remember driving to the local industrial estate and practising there, then being driven back by the instructor. It was a while before I was driving straight from and to my home because the roads were quite difficult around where I lived.
When I learned to drive later in another country the first lesson was a group lesson where we were shown the car and everyone had a turn starting and stopping in a large car park and then the instructor drove back.

I would have expected some kind of starting and stopping practise in the first lesson. The second lesson sounds normal though. They can't just let someone start driving on busy roads with lots of intersections, traffic lights and all the rest. They'll choose a suitable place where it's quiet to start off.

Yes it’s normal. I remember not driving home myself until maybe third lesson. I wasn’t the best.

Is that allowed? I remember reading something years ago about watching out for driving instructors trying to give people lifts during your lesson time. Must be quite off putting for the other learner and surely against their insurance?

I learnt three years ago, was behind the wheel within 15 mins

My son started a month or so ago. He drove on the first lesson in a quiet residential area very close to his school, where he got picked up. He did indicators, turning corners etc. I suppose they must have talked about the car first for a while. Second lesson was similar. Third lesson he drove further and went round some small, quiet roundabouts.
I think he has had about six lessons now, and has started going further afield and on busier roads and has done 3 point turns.

Maybe it depends where you live. My kids learned with the same driving school and went a YT video before the lesson which I think my kids watched .

In my kids experiences first lesson was driving round a car park getting used to maneuvering and paying attention to arrows painted on the ground so you know where to turn and not turn.

Second lesson was early in the morning and going around roundabouts. I live on a cul de sac so three point turn when they got back.

I learnt many years ago and was shocked to be in the driver’s seat and on roads from the word go. I imagined settling in for a nice little chauffeur driven journey the first time. 😂

Yah it’s normal. There’s no way on a second lesson my son could have driven the inbetween bit. He was collected from school and driven via main roads and a dual carriageway to a quiet place did some driving and then he was driven home. Again to come home it would have been a hill start and major junction etc. they need to get to grips with the basics first. He’s on about lesson seven now and drives the whole time.

My eldest daughter was behind the wheel within minutes on her very first lesson, and also drove home.

DD drove straight away. Instructor didn’t drive at all. She had one off street junior driver lesson a week before so knew what are was doing though.

Depends a lot on where you live, and every instructor has their own way of doing things (to a certain extent).

Some people might want to spend a bit of time getting a feel for how much someone knows, how confident they are, what they're worried about etc, first... then get them driving from the second lesson.

If its only a 45 minute lesson, I can't see a problem with that. If they've paid for a 2 hour lesson and the instructor spends the whole two hours just telling them stuff.. then thats not great, no, they should be able to get the new learner sussed out in half that time or less.

I passed 17mths ago and my instructor picked me up and drove a couple of streets away. We stopped had a chat about the car etc then we switched and I drove around town being instructed on what to do. Had one other lesson that was an hour long then we switched to two hours. Other than first lesson i drove from pick up to drop off

I got in passenger side had a 5 minute talk on where everything is then switched seats to start driving.

I thought the same - I only passed two years ago, and my instructor said it’s called ‘piggybacking’ and it’s not supposed to happen anymore. I asked as it was the set up of my first instructor when I was 17