It’s never a good thing to learn to drive with a friend or family member. We would not go to that person every time we need to learn something else so why when we want to learn to drive? Just because someone has passed their test themselves does it make them a good candidate for the job. They have no experience, not to mention patience, to teach you to drive.

It is quite remarkable to think that because someone has achieved something that it makes them an expert & yet the majority of people in a recent survey suggested that friends & family were who they turned to for lessons ahead of a professional driving instructor.

A driving instructor knows from experience that a new driver who has never sat behind the wheel of a motor vehicle before needs somewhere ideally without any traffic, certainly with the most minimal amount of traffic possible. A trading estate or quiet housing estate is usually the place where an instructor will start you off when beginning to drive.

In contrast a friend or family member will just expect you to get in the car & drive without any consideration to what you do or don’t know already. We are programmed as human beings to automatically do things on auto pilot once we have learned them & repeatedly carried them out.

When you, as an experienced driver, first get in a car, you automatically fasten your seat belt, start the engine, check your mirrors & set off. As someone who is teaching someone else to drive you don’t consider that you should teach your student to adjust mirrors, seats, etc. Check them all before setting off, etc.

A driving instructor knows what is going to be expected of the student in order to pass the practical driving test. The instructor has refresher courses & receives the latest methods & techniques. Assuming you, as a friend or family member, even know what to do as an instructor, you would not be in a position to teach the latest methods.

Family members & friends are ideal for extra practice in between the lessons booked with a professional instructor.  They are there to help check through your report card & to ensure you concentrate on working on the things you are not particularly good at. Their assistance in this way can ensure that you require the minimal amount of professional lessons, just enough to teach you the relevant skills.

As the instructor teaches you these skills, you are then able to go away & practice them ready for the next lesson. Once you have demonstrated you can master that skill, your instructor will move on to the next. As we can see, it cuts down the need for too much practice in your lesson & enables more time for learning new skills.

This is the best use of friends & family when learning to drive.

How to choose your instructor.

Areas Served: Brierley Hill – Cradley Heath – Dudley – Kingswinford – Oldbury – Stourbridge – Wolverhampton