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.

Going against the grain here but I think, unless they are very keen or need it for work, a few years extra maturity is really beneficial. Of course it's a useful life skill but learning at 19/20/21 is still fine. Oldest learnt at 18 just before uni, middle at 22 during his masters year and youngest is just starting now at 19.

My dad bought me driving lessons for my 17th birthday without asking me if I wanted them first. I absolutely hated driving and had no need or interest in driving. I failed my test and found the whole experience torturous.
I was pregnant at 26, didn't want to get on a bus with a baby in a pram and so took a few lessons and passed my test no problem. The two experiences were like night and day. I wouldn't push lessons on my kids.

My son recently passed first time/ no faults, age 26! He paid £42 and hour.

well done to him! Crikey that is pricey though per hour…. I can see why lots are priced out of learning.

It is crazy expensive and he also had to wait 6 months after passing his theory test until he could get a practical test.

Sooner rather than later is my vote. Get it DONE whilst they are still at home.
If I had realised, my DD would have had her provisional license at 17 and would have passed a theory test ASAP b/c that is the only way to score lessons in this area.
Once they're at university, I think it all becomes more complicated. Ideally, they have a license before they finish university so they can include that on CVs and applications.

Mine both learned at 17 in their final year of school. Then they'd passed before they went to uni.
It would be far harder to learn once they'd left home.

That was our experience anyway

We paid £40 per lesson - 1hr per week for approx. 5 months (no outside practice) = £800 altogether

That's definitely a lot more than we paid (less than 3 years ago). Also, there's an assumption that you have to pay for dozens of lessons which may not be true if you're willing/able to put in time and effort yourself. My DS only had 10 lessons, but also had at least 50 hours driving hundreds of miles with DH, and more with me being obsessed with him being very competent at parking I really hate it when people are incapable of parallel parking . He passed 1st time...

I would say asap.

I learnt at 17 and passed by 18. By 20 I already had a job that I needed a car for, so if I hadn’t passed it would have been tricky. Plus by 20+ more people have own money commitments of rent/ bills, work
commit so less easy to fit in daytime lessons, and then own family as time goes on.

I lived in the city for years where I didn’t need drive or even own a car for about 5 years. So there’s no reason to have to have a car forever once you pass test. Nowadays I live rural and couldn’t live here is I didn’t drive. So a licence to have the choice in life is handy

Unless they're very keen or you're rural, I would prefer to leave it until after uni sort of age in the hope they they're a bit more mature and less likely to get in an accident.

I think learning at 17 is ideal, there are many in there 20’s who due to the pandemic didn’t learn and they are now finding they need the licence to make job hunting easier/getting to work easier .

I didn’t bother at 17! I was too busy wanting to go out and party. Then life, job, marriage, children and everything that goes with it happened and it go harder and harder. I passed at 37 years old and it was THE hardest thing I have ever done. My anxiety was through the roof. I’m going to encourage my son to learn as soon as 17 comes!

My parents bought me a motorbike at the age of 16 which I went to school on. It was great! I went through a training school to learn to ride it properly and have never forgotten the line: just assume everyone on the road is trying to kill you. That line has come in very useful over the years.

I saved up 2k for DS's lessons so he could do it at 17. He had weekly 2hr £80 AA lessons for 6 months and passed first time, no minors as he always reminds me. He also went out with me on easy, quiet drives from about week 8 of lessons.
Passing his test early meant he could drive to a christmas job just out of town last year.

We live rurally, and virtually all young people are champing at the bit to start driving as soon as they reach 17. My daughter has been saving up for a car for years and can't wait to pass her test. OTOH I grew up in London and it simply wasn't on my radar at that age. I learnt at about 25, and finally got a car at 30. We both love driving, so I'm not sure it makes a difference from that point of view.

I learnt at 24 and felt it was quite late however , if they are also taking exams at school/ uni etc then I'd wait until that was completed .

Ds learned at 18, passed first time and hasn't driven since. 🤣He's 28 now. Dd is 24 and has just bought a car to learn in. We live in London so not a priority for us. I passed at 27.

ASAP, then it's done.
My parents arranged lessons from 17, passed at 18 just before I left for uni. It was a godsend for my social life haha as the small towns where we lived were spread out and semi rural with virtually no public transport late in the evening.

But the real asset was when I graduated. The first "professional" job I secured was somewhere impossible to commute to without a car (and I didn't want to move there to live either). I was able to say yes straight away and fix a start date. If I couldn't drive the would have had to turn it down or find funds for an intensive driving course and hope to hell I could get a test and pass in time.

It really does open up opportunities and if parents are willing to fund it that is such a huge asset. So much easier to fit in as an A level student than later on when juggling full time job, rent/mortgage and maybe kids!I

My son passed at 17 - has come in very handy - and I'm intending to get lessons for my daughter at the same age too.

I started learning at 17, but I packed it in after 5 lessons. My single parent couldn’t afford to pay for all my lessons, I was on minimum wage and couldn’t have afforded to buy & run a car anyway. The whole thing just filled me with dread. I had work, college, a social life, and learning to drive to juggle and at that age, it felt like there was too much pressure on me to be perfect in all those aspects. Great public transport in the area we lived in so it wasn’t “essential” for me at that time.

I restarted at 22 because my mum and step-dad were looking to move further out of town, and looking back, I think a few years to mature helped a lot.

I think it varies, depending on who you are. My brother was much more confident and fearless at 17 than he is now at 27. So it didn’t faze him at all. I think if he learnt to drive now, he’d struggle a lot.

Where we live getting driving lessons is still very difficult due to availability - someone has to really want to make it happen!
Eldest DD struggled to find lessons - one instructor quit after she'd had a few and then she practised with us for ages before securing a few more lessons. She did her test in our car - passed second time and has been loving being able to drive ever since. Whole process took about 18 months - she found it very difficult to find the time to practise in Year 13 with uni applications/exams etc. It was hard and patchy and we ended up teaching her a lot more than we expected. She had a real race to pass before she left for university. Whole thing (lessons, two tests, theory test, insuring her on our specially-purchased, low-insurance-group car) came in at just under £1k.
DS turned 17 the day after she passed her test, so we are straight back in it. He has been lucky to find an instructor (helped by attending local sixth-form and doing lower-demand course) and started lessons just after his 17th birthday. He will hopefully have it all done before Y13, which is far more stressful. I'm hoping he will have more lessons and less teaching from us, but I do feel like I know what I'm doing more now, so will be able to get him through it ourselves if necessary.
We are fortunate that we have the money to set the kids up driving. Given that we have the resources, I would have definitely encouraged them, though there hasn't been any need as they have both been keen! I think there is a lot to be said for learning at 17 if you can.

My 18yr old passed when she was 17yrs. She's taking a year out now she has finished her A Levels before going to Uni. I am so glad we did it then. Firstly she needs to drive to both her jobs so she can save money for uni, secondly having worked out how much uni will cost her Dad and myself we are also glad to have a bit of a breather from paying for lessons to paying for uni.

Mine learned soon after finishing uni. We don’t have a car, so all lessons were with an instructor, which was very expensive. Most young people in our area do not learn to drive early. Even now, in their mid-late 20s, most of their friends cannot drive. It’s just too expensive, and not needed. It’s very much a luxury activity.

wait until 25 when the brain has fully developed

lol! I know plenty of people over 25 who show signs their brains aren’t fully developed! Not sure mine reached its peak until late 30s.