Teenagers -At what age best to learn to drive

[violetqueen]

Was just about to set up driving lessons as 18 th birthday present for DS ,then panicked .
We live in London ,he'll be at home another year at least .
Thinking he might learn and pass ,but not drive /put it into practice for a while .
Expensive business , when is optimum time ?
What do people think - I just can't think straight myself at present .

I couldn't wait for my eldest to get his license, so that he could be a taxi driver for his 5 siblings. I don't think he was too bothered about learning at 17, but I was! I am happy to admit to being totally selfish, and was very happy to pay for his lessons rather.

Now that he has his license, he loves driving.

I grew up in London and only one (very rich) person at school with me learnt to drive whilst still at school. The was no need. I lived 5 mins walk from Clapham Junction, and the longest gap between trains was about 20 mins, at that was at 4am!

I then went to a rural university and everybody I met could drive! I learnt when I was at uni, at 19-20 (lessons for birthday) so I could hire and drive minibuses for the athletic union in my final year, and because driving is essential to do the job I was studying for (civil engineering). I also practiced a lot duing vacations, and drove myself back to South Wales (mum as passenger) at the start of term. I worked on a farm during vacations and pottered around quite happily on the private farm roads by myself, which helped hugely.

I'd say it is a big expenses if you have no real need to drive, or prospect of doing so.

17 for girls
21 for boys
Most of dds male friends have had accidents (including 3 write offs) since passing their tests at 17 years old. Just dont think most boys are mature enough to be on the roads at 17. A few are but most not.

I passed my test at 18 and never drove again for 4 years until I could afford my own car. After a few runs out with my dad picked up again really easily.

i think the younger you are the easier it is to pass/get it out of the way. its a good thing to have on CV and also the test seems to be getting harder every few year years.

Re putting learner on parents' insurance, there is one brilliant cheapish scheme - Provisional Marmalade

It insures the learner only, on your car, for £85 - £95 per month just until they pass - then it stops instantly!

Car has to be max Group 16, max value £20000. Excess on learner's insurance is £250, your own NCD isn't affected by a bump.

Sounds too good to be true, but I first read about it in the Guardian in March & it's clearly still going. They also do Young Marmalade, a scheme to help get a safe car & cheapish insurance once they have passed!

It's most useful for under-21s though - once they're older you can usually put them on your own insurance for less than that (assuming you don't drive a Ferrari or something!)

learning to drive is a real pita, it takes so much time and effort. so i would say that if your ds is able to make the time now, it's best to get it out of the way asap.

obviously it can take months and months to become competent and pass, if he suddenly finds himself needing to be able to drive (e.g. gets a job/uni place that requires it), it will be very difficult for him for 6-12 months, or maybe he just won't get the job/place at all...

even if he does need brush up lessons at a later date, they will be far less effort than learning from scratch, and by then he may be juggling a job, more family commitments etc.