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?

Hmm that's interesting - and dodgy. It's definitely piggy backing. He even let me sit in on a lesson to see how DS was going! He's a good instructor otherwise. DS had 3. One seems to have been useless, one DS hated after one lesson but this guy is a good teacher. He does have the dual controls obviously so not sure if that affects insurance.

Mine drove on the roads from the first lesson.

I thought as a bare minimum she would have went to a car park or quiet area and learned some stop/starting etc on the first lesson. The second lesson he drove her to a quiet area but we live in a quiet area, you often see learner drivers in our roads. They are 1 hour lessons

DD is heading towards 20 hours of driving lessons. She starts at 7am(!) and gets dropped at school for 9am. I usually take a look to see where she is to make sure she’ll be back to school for her first lesson (they are allowed to skip registration/free periods if having driving lessons).

Before we booked/managed to find an instructor we had given her 2 x 1hr lessons at a kids driving course (so on pretend roads at a showground/airfield).
She already knew a fair bit of the basics by then, so 1st lesson headed off to some backstreets about a mile away (it was always dark and usually wet).

We were encouraged to book 2 hour slots to ensure plenty of practice to reinforce each skill and she seems to prefer that. It gives them time to get across to the routes used by the nearest driving centre.

Actually getting a test is more of a Herculean task round here. (I am using Testi to hopefully get a better date and can sometimes see tests being released in batches about 70 minutes apart on the same day at some centres, so somebody must block booking).

If they're a decent instructor they'll be receptive to the individual student and gauge whether they think its a good idea or if they need a bit more time, there isn't really a standard first lesson. I'd see how it goes personally, if more concerns rear their heads find someone else, but i wouldn't presume they're doing anything wrong as such. I always preferred 2 hour lessons otherwise you spend longer setting the car up in 1 hour lessons compared to just doing it once in a 2 hour one, they'd also probably have driven on the first lesson in a 2 hour one.

No not normal.

DP is an instructor. That isn’t normal, no. That said, he teaches for 90 mins because they do need a few minutes to go through the basics, and he would usually take time during a lesson to stop and ask the pupil to reflect, so if you are only in the car for an hour, getting to a motorway or dual carriageway, and town driving and manoeuvres-doesn’t leave actually much time to drive. But most of his pupils drive from and to home on their first lesson. Just one other thing-a good instructor will teach to drive, not just pass a test. So to use a car park, get petrol, a drive through. And as things will have changed, if a pupil is driving with a parent or other adult, he will take the parent/adult out with the pupil so they can see what the pupil needs to do and the teaching can be consistent.

Mine all drove from first lesson. DS1 was very shocked that only he had a steering wheel, he was under the wrong impression of what dual controls meant

my DD had one TERRIBLE instructor who did this And from lesson 2 she would make her take a bus to meet her ( fine with that) then drive round like an industrial estate and back roads then the instructor would drive her home as part of the lesson in teh lesson time - This kept happening and it would have been pretty much back roads back home. THEN she said that she didnt submit some paperwork ( she was qualified) it was some additional course - so she couldn[t teach for 2 months - but of course she never helped find another instructor so DD was beasically left high and dry. She never contacted us when this supposed paper work came though and we never contacted her again - If she had a website we would so leave a bad review... Thankfully DD has now a great instructor and has put in for her test .

I drove on my first lesson, but my dad had already taught me the basics in the local industrial estate on Sunday's so I could already change gear etc. Not saying I didn't bunny hop an awful lot...

Currently learning to drive. Have been driving through the whole 2 hour lessons from the get go. For the first 2-3 lessons it was on the housing estate I live in, but even then we were driving the whole time. We’ve pulled over to discuss things, as and when required but would then get right back to it.

I learnt age 31 in 1989, in west London. Instructor drove me from work (I was a teacher) a couple of minutes to a quiet estate (describing what he was doing as we travelled), then stopped and got me to sit in the driving seat. Then he took me through the controls, etc and I was driving within about 10 minutes! I drove for almost all the first lesson and - obviously - from the start thereafter. He was a fantastic, very calm instructor.

First lesson my instructor parked up the car and explained all the parts (gears clutch etc) and what they were used for and some basics about the car and what you do every time you get in the drivers seat. Then we switched seats and I didn't drive but learned how to adjust my seat and mirrors etc.

Second lesson he drove to a car park I learned how to drive very slowly and brake etc and then he drove him. On to a proper road on the next lesson.

I learned about 6 years ago.

At the start of learning to drive they need to take you to a safe place, they don't want people that haven't a clue driving along the roads where there are lots of cars and pedestrians. even when I had lessons 40 years ago it was like this.

I passed my test a couple of months ago and I drove in my first lesson.

My instructor drove me to a quiet road about ten minutes away and then I drove up and down a few times and then I drove around some country roads.

I think he drove me home on the first day but after that first lesson I drove from home and back.
After that I gradually started to drive different routes and busier, faster roads.

Well I learnt a bit before you and I was on public roads from the word go.

I had lessons about 35 years ago. On the first one rhe instructor went over rhe controls, and rhe only place I drove was an empty car park and from there on to a side road. Other times the road would be busy due to the school, but it was an inset day so no one about.

I had the prepaid 10 lessons and chose to change to a different driving school/instructor. The new one gave me the choice of driving or letting him drive at first. I let him drive to the industrial estate ( no one around in the evening) and then we swapped so he could see what stage I was at.

Different instructors will have different teaching methods.

Not normal, no. You've got a scammer.

My eldest two started lessons recently. For the first 2/3 lessons the instructor drove them to a nearby industrial estate (weekend mornings so it was really quiet) let them drive there then brought them back.
You don’t know how many lessons the learners you see in your area have had.

Not driving at all on the first lesson does sound a bit odd though

just as an update she’s had her 3rd lesson and again only drove for 30 mins as he drove her 15 mins away to a quiet area. So all in all we’ve paid for 3 lessons now which is 3 hours in total but she has only driven for an hour. He told her the average amount of lessons needed would be 40-60. Now I get all people are different but that seems A LOT to me!

we also live in a really quite area, there are often a lot of learners on the road so can’t understand the need to drive her to a different area.

should also add she has been out in a car before she started her lessons so it’s not like she hasn’t had any experience either.

It's surprising not to drive at all on a first lesson, it's what you've paid for!
I did my lessons decades ago but I definitely did some "driving" on my first lesson in a big empty car park, mainly just getting the feel of the controls, how to move without stalling. Was on the road by lesson 2 or 3.

My son learnt a couple of years ago and had a similar pattern.

I’d look for a new instructor.

DD just passed her test, the first day her instructor turned up, he said ‘get in’ she went to go passenger side and he said ‘no your driving’ she looked horrified 😂 but off they went and she drove 99% of the time the whole way through.

I do remember this happening to me years ago though when I did my lessons, I had 3 different instructors in the end!

He told her the average amount of lessons needed would be 40-60.

This does sound a lot. I think my son had 30 lessons and then passed. I think i had more as it took me longer to "get it". We both passed first time.

I've read somewhere that the ideal is 100 hours of driving practice before the test so if you are practising with a parent between lessons you can probably get to that point with around 30 hours of lessons? Though we are all different.

The driving to a quiet area may not just mean quiet as in less traffic but less complex junctions etc. I had several lessons before my instructor tried me out on roundabouts, hill starts etc.

Just seen your latest update. I hadn't driven before ( you said your daughter had some experience). Whilst my instructor did drive me to a different area at first ( can't remember how many lessons), I think I drove more than 1 hour in the first 3 lessons. My first lesson was in a near empty car park - we practised steering control. I thinknivwas driving fir at least 20 - 30 minutes in that lesson and at least 30 mins in the others.

I had a prepaid 10 lessons with that instructor, but had decided by half way through I wasn't going to book more lessons with him. I didn't feel comfortable with his teaching style and he made me feel less confident. I had 1 lesson with my dad, going over basics, and he was surprised at things the instructor hadn't explained. Understood them perfectly once my dad had gone over them.

I had a break after the 10 lessons, then booked with someone else. Got on much better with them. They had a completely different teaching style, and I felt more confident with him.

He knew my weakness was roundabouts ( mainly because of how the first instructor had responded when I asked for guidance at round abouts). We live in between 2 towns- one has a lot of roundabouts. We drove in both, but had lots of lessons, and my test in the one with the most roundabouts.

I don't think either of them said in the first few lessons how many I would need. I ended up having around 50 but I would say that was more than average and have no doubt that if I had started with my second instructor to start with, I would have needed less.

Sounds to me as if he either
-doesn't think your daughter is going to pick things up very quickly ( in which case he should say that).

• isn't the right fit for your daughter
• is purposely doing things slowly, and trying to make you think your daughter is going to take longer than she needs to, to get the extra lessons out of you.
• just isn't a very good instructor.

The norm is 50 hours driving before your test ready.