Anyone else got a 16-year-old planning to learn to drive? Fancy a chat about it?

[mrsalanmeasles]

I was wrongfooted by a recent meal out with other mums who were convinced that the law had changed and our kids would have to be 18 before they started. But there's no such thing on the DVLA website - were they imagining it?

I'm wanting to plan for it well ahead, so welcome any thoughts. The sooner we've got another driver in the family the better, IMO.

my dd's friend has just got her provisional at 16.... i thought law had changed too,so not got one for dd....planning on sending her to her godmothers for a weeks intensive course with her,ex driving instructor.

then few lessons and test....eventually

MrsAM - DD has just sent off for her provisional licence, she's just turned 17.

ILT - you are lucky having a driving instructor in the family.

I'm not looking forward to all this expense.

It would be good to get some tips on insurance if anyone has any.

Why do people think the law might've changed if it hasn't???

Similarly, ILT, I'd like to crack on with preparatory action if possible.

DS has started lessons off-road ahead of turning 17, and will be studying for the theory over the summer. Roll on the day when the chauffering can stop!

Exactly, AMIS, I'm looking forward to being chauffered myself.

Also I'm keen to get the theory study underway before A levels kick in.

I'm not sure why people think the law has changed. You can definitely get a provisional at 17 - you can apply up to 3 moths before you turn 17, and it becomes valid on your birthday. The girl mentioned earlier with one at 16 presumably gets DLA? That allows you to get a license and start driving a year early, to help with mobility.

There was some discussion a few years ago about the minimum driving age rising to 18

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article2204067.ece

but it was never actually carried out. DD2(17) is out now for her second driving lesson we are banned from looking out of the window at 6 o'clock when she come back

Tip for insurance - shop around and get responsible adults with clean driving licences named on DC's policy. I was looking for my DD (looking ahead) and was able to halve the cost by putting DH & me on the policy.

Thanks for these bits of advice.

It obviously is worth planning ahead; I'm keen to get ds up and driving before he has to really get his head down for A levels. If I can get him some off-road experience this summer hols, I will; also, I'll try to get him learning the theory. And then I should apply for a provisional licence three months before his 17th birthday, by the looks of it.

A friend of mine's ds (who is older) drives himself to school now, which would be fab for my ds as well.

DD's licence arrive today. and

I hope you have all saved for the Insurance!

DD took a long time to be ready for her test as she was very nervous to begin with. We thought the Insurance was bad when she was learning, but it shoots up after they pass!

Oh, and it is CHEAPER to get fully comp than third party if you add them to your insurance! (They weight heavily teens & 3rd party policies) but we have an R reg 990cc Suzuki Wagon, and it is an additional £500 for DD to be on the Insurance of that, so I am NOT looking forward to DS learning.

It is also very strange when they offer to drive you home so you can have a drink. I wanted to be sober with DD at the wheel

Milli - that's interesting.

I phoned my insurance company about adding dd.

I was by the young lady I spoke to. She was telling me £2k. ffs.

I think she might have need some help. I was very patient with her. Surprisingly.

DS applied for his licence 3 months before his 17th birthday and had his first lesson on his birthday a few weeks ago.
He has a driving lesson in half an hour and I will force myself not to look out the window.

It used to be you could get your provisional licence at 16 for mopeds but not sure if that has changed as it is many many years since I got my provisional.

I found a very good loca instructor who charges 5 pound per hour less than big firms such as BSM/AA and if you block book 5 lessons you get 10 pound discount. Will work out much cheaper.

There have been rumours for several years about the age for driving increasing, but it hasn't happened.

You can get your provisional licence before you're 17, but it's not valid until you're 17.

DD had some lessons with an organisation called Young Driver before her birthday (about 4 sessions), which got her used to handling a car. She took her theory test during her birthday week, and passed her practical less than 6 weeks after her birthday.

It was expensive to do it this way, but now she can concentrate on other things.

Her instructor was brilliant - we're in West Midlands!

My DS1 has just passed his test and is 17! It took him three attempts though and was incredibly stressful after fail number 2 as his confidence understandably plummetted!
It is really worth doing at 17 imo as otherwise when??
DS1 will be doing Pass Plus Course to have experience on motorways and in the dark with an instructor as we live on the M25! It also brings down the cost of insurance.

Just doing a straw poll of my DSs friends the vast majority of girls passed first time and the majority of boys failed first time. We ended up having to change our car for a sewing machine on wheels as DS was uninsurable. The cost was relatively cheap at £900 for him!!!!. Also check the insurance won't rocket when your DC passes.
The instructor told us he would need 70 hours in a car before he passed - lessons and out with parents- which was about right.

Hope this is helpful!

Mrsalanmeasles good point about AS levels. The driving really got delayed and took up too much brain space after my DS failed in May. He literally had to stop until he took his test in July. Good idea to plan if you can!

You can get insurance with Marmalade that covers them when they drive your car on a provisional for practice purposes - it doesn't affect your no claims if they have an accident as it's a separate policy. Costs about £3 a day and you can insure in 28 day blocks.

Once they've passed insurance for boys is much more expensive than for girls [bitter experience] ds has his with Young Drivers at the moment and it's not bad - they're underwritten by Aviva.

I was just going to post about marmalade too!

It's called Provisional Marmalade but obviously is only until they pass.

Just wanted to agree strongly about the amount of practice/number of lessons required... I know it differs from person to person but my DD1's instructor told me that the average is over 40 hours of taught lessons added to as much personal practice as you can organize. It doesn't come cheap...

She took her test this morning but unfortunately failed so we went out this evening and she drove me to our Rosemary Conley class!

We ended up going for Admiral insurance and changing both my car and my husband's car to them as well as putting DD's car on the one policy. Her car then cost about £650 for the year, but we managed to save over £100 each on both of ours.