Best age to learn to drive?

[Thegrassroots26]

Would you encourage your 17 year old to learn to drive if they seem not bothered and/or worried about it?

Best to leave it for them to decide when ready or to push a bit towards them trying it? I just worry if they leave it a number of years into their 20s for example it’s easier not too bother or put it off further. It is such a useful life skill.

Thoughts appreciated.

Personally I would encourage it now. I feel they would have more commitments at a later age. I got my licence very early and I am forever grateful to my parents for facilitating this.

Thanks- yes this was my line of thinking too…

I didn’t push DD to learn at 17. There was no real need as we live near the city on a good public transport route, plus we didn’t have a car small enough for her to drive at the time. I wouldn’t say that she regrets not learning at that age but in hindsight she does wish she would’ve pushed the nerves aside and started sooner as she ended up loving it. She began learning just after her 19th birthday and passed first time after ~5 months of lessons. It opened up lots of doors for her, both work wise and socially.

It seams to be far less of a rite of passage these days for teens to start learning as soon as they turn 17. The vast majority of DD’s friends are the same and waited a year or two before doing lessons. The only ones that learned straight away lived rurally and had a real need to drive.

I would give some encouragement to learn as it can open up jobs etc. But ultimately it is up to them so I wouldn't be pushing it..

Yes. It is easiest at 17. It only gets harder with every passing year.

Why do you think that might be? Do you just get more fearful when you’re older? 🤔

DS was 17 the same day he started 6th form college a few weeks ago. He’s doing 3 A levels, Core Maths, G7 music and G5 music theory. Much as we’d love him to learn to drive, we’re going to leave it until next summer, when he’ll no longer be doing Maths and hopefully his music exams are done too.

💯 encourage to do it now. Even if they are a little reticent, it’s just so much easier and it’s such a useful skill. my sister didn’t until her 30s and basically found it so hard and stressful and now barely drives. Same with my mum. I did it at 17 and love driving, was such great freedom.

I think it's a good skill to have, so I encouraged both of mine to learn straightaway. One was reluctant but when I told them, the offer of me paying ended at 18 when they reached adulthood, it spurred them on.

I encouraged it at 17, one of my is learning now. He has no plans to get a car and he's going to uni and won't be able to afford to run one anyway, but when he's ready he'll have a licence.

I had to pay for my own lessons but learnt at 21, which meant I was very invested as it was my own money 😂

I think there are just more barriers, work, money etc get in the way if they are older.

i learned at 17 (didnt really need to as had good transport connections) then didnt drive until i was 26- was glad i had got it out of the way.

ds1 learned when he was 17, and now steals my car a lot as he’s in a long distance relationship. Younger ds is nearing 17 and is less keen- I’ll encourage as much as possible (i.e pay for the lessons). If he was very anxious or there were deeper issues i may reconsider the pressure.

Ours passed at 18. If it’s affordable and feasible I’d encourage them to do it as soon as they can.

I really do not think that this is the case. If anything a few more years of maturity is better (and insurance pricing reflects this!)

I don't think my son will be fearful if he waits, but I think it will be harder to fit in - at the moment he has lessons during school on days when he has free periods. No schools seem to do lessons for less than 1.5 hours now, so not easy to fit into a lunch break. It will also be unaffordable when he is at uni, on top of everything else, so it would mean waiting until after.

Insurance is expensive whenever you do it.

DD's first year at 17 was £1500, second year after having a black box for the first year was £500. Pretty reasonable to me, but any new driver would find similar.

I think it depends on maturity, need and motivation. DD had a few lessons at 18, hated it, finally learnt at 30.
DS2 learnt aged 35. Both passed easily as both had maturity.

DS1 is 37 and doesn't drive.
I learnt at 23, was already a mother of 2.

It’s a life skill and will facilitate college choices and job opportunities, making more accessible . Worth doing it if you can afford it

How much do you think is the average cost for lessons? Just thinking time to start saving. Probably should’ve started a while ago…

Ie how many lessons at what per hour did it take to get your DC through the test?

Sooner rather than later.

DS had his 1st driving lesson on his 17th birthday, passed 4 months later. Due to where we live it gave him a massive advantage over his peers on getting a really good part time job (that they wouldn't have been able to get to).

If you can afford to pay for them while they’re 17/18 I’d really recommend it. My brother and I both learned at 17. My sister started, failed a couple of tests and gave up, which was the right decision for her at the time. But she then had to fund it herself in her late 20s when she decided she really wanted to learn before having kids.

it must be so much harder in terms of time and responsibility if you wait until you’ve got kids and have to fit around them, work, partners work etc.

@Thegrassroots26It took me 24 hours at £22ph but that was 10 years ago now..

Asap would be my recommendation, particularly if you can provide access to an insured small car and also help with practice between lessons. The longer you leave it the more barriers get in the way - they are away studying or working so have to fit lessons around a new place / two places, or after work hours rather than college hours. They learn so quickly at this age too!

It’s also a bit chicken and egg when you’re a older and looking for work, which may not be in an area well served by public transport. Do you look for jobs that need you to drive to access the workplace easily? Or only those with public transport? Once you have a job and you’re commuting on a bus or train for two or three times longer than it would take you to drive that’s when the penny drops that a car would in fact be useful!

also - exploring outside your town, going to the countryside, on holiday, hiring a car abroad once you’re old enough. A driving licence unlocks all this in a way that being tied to public transport or favours from driving friends cannot.

Thanks everyone - very helpful to hear your suggestions. New parenting stages to be unlocked- scary but exciting too x