Young Drivers (again)

[Triquet]

Evening All,

As the grandchildren are now in their teens, what are the pros and cons of getting them on the young driver ladder? Granddaughter is now 15 and pretty much full-sized and I think it might be the right time to get her on the system. They live in York and young driver training is available.

Jim

[Horse]

Evening All,
... teens, what are the pros and cons of getting them on the young driver ladder? Granddaughter is now 15 and pretty much full-sized and I think it might be the right time to get her on the system.

What do you want them to gain from it?

[waremark]

I did pre 17 stuff at their local, Tockwith, in 1971. I think it is sensible to be familiar with use of car controls before driving lessons on the road.

As part of driving prep - the most important bit is building the right attitudes towards wanting to be safe and skilful drivers - I used to talk to my children about what was going on on the road when I was driving them, sort of simplified commentary style.

One thing which probably makes bad drivers is a bad example from parents.

[vanman]

[/quote]What do you want them to gain from it?[/quote]

Absolutely everything, the sooner the better to learn the controls without spending weeks on the road with an instructor. Ok a lot to learn when on the road but at least one could use the controls safely!!

[RiK]

The Under 17 car club do some fantastic events for the younger drivers, well worth looking into.

https://under17-carclub.co.uk/

Coincidentally just a couple of weeks back they were down at Berkeley where we do most of our Police training at the Sabrina Centre. Loads going on for them all day down there, I spoke to a couple of the organisers and it seemed like a great event.

[waremark]

U17 Car Club is extremely highly regarded. You would have to get on with it, young people cannot join after their 16th birthday (yes, it is the young person who is the member). It is very time consuming - young people would expect to attend many summer weekends, and would mainly drive a family car.

[jcochrane]

U17 Car Club is excellent having had the opportunity, as others on here, to drive with young drivers who came through the club.
I strongly believe you can't be too young to start learning. Even as a small child you can learn so much from a good driver just by watching but as waremark points out the parent has to set the right example. I was fortunate, from the age of two, in being able to watch an army driving instructor and found it totally absorbing and helpful as I got older. Not only for driving but cycling and motorbiking as well as I'd learned much about roadcraft.

[SeanP]

Having put my son through Under 17 Car Club (since he was age 11 - youngsters can join in their 12th birthday year), and until he was 17 last July and passed his test on 13/12/2022 after minimal on the road lessons (and managing to actually book a test!).
They generally operate most weekends between February and Late October / Early November, run entirely by volunteers.
Magic day in the middle of summer is a fantastic charity raising event whereby the paddock is full of ordinary to exotic cars and the youngsters (and adults) can purchase a book of tickets and take passenger rides (1 ticket) or where allowed by the owner, drive the vechicle(s). It is always wonderful being able to say that they have driven around Castle Combe - in BOTH directions!
I cannot rate it highly enough.
For 15+ aged youngsters they also run more intensive week-long "Pathfinder" courses (https://under17driver.co.uk/) during most term holidays throughout the year.

[waremark]

I just watched the video of the 4/5 day Pathfinder course for 15 - 17 year olds. Extremely impressive. I love the level of emphasis on the mental elements of safe driving - something which I think is missed from a normal process of driving instruction.

For the OP's grandchildren living in York, I note that there is a 4 day course on 10th April at Tockwith locally to them, with a subsidised price of £180 for Yorkshire residents - 5 places left!

[Triquet]

I just watched the video of the 4/5 day Pathfinder course for 15 - 17 year olds. Extremely impressive. I love the level of emphasis on the mental elements of safe driving - something which I think is missed from a normal process of driving instruction.

For the OP's grandchildren living in York, I note that there is a 4 day course on 10th April at Tockwith locally to them, with a subsidised price of £180 for Yorkshire residents - 5 places left!

Many thanks, it's just on the run up to GCSE's so I don't think I'll take that forward for the moment.