Driving lessons for under 17s – common sense or cause for concern?

With professional driving lessons becoming increasingly popular with children as young as 11 and a proliferation in the number of schools providing them, interested parties respond with mixed feelings.

So how do driving lessons for under 17s work?
Because of their students’ age and ineligibility to hold a UK provisional driving license, providers specialising in driving lessons for under 17s have to conduct their lessons off the public highway.  
Often this means using large pieces of private land like out of town car parks or airfields to get their young charges up to speed with road handling techniques, something which can push up the price of a lesson to an eye-watering £65 or more.

Reaching for the stars before you can reach the pedals
But are children as young as 11 really capable of handling a complex motor vehicle? And can they display the necessary coordination and judgement to keep them safe under a range of conditions?  
Darren Hirst, director of the national chain of driving schools Just Driving offers cautious support for the idea: “I’ve heard stories about children too small to see out of the windscreen being given a stack of cushions to sit on during their lessons which makes you wonder about the judgement being exercised by some of the driving instructors. From our perspective however, anything which starts to get young drivers aware of potential road hazards and familiar with sensible vehicle handling techniques can only be viewed as a good thing.”

Overconfident and under experienced
Critics of the trend cite its tendency to produce overconfident drivers lacking the maturity to make sensible decisions as its major drawback. These include Kevin Clinton from The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, who questions its long term impact: “It will probably mean youngsters will take fewer lessons when they come to learn to drive and if they take fewer lessons they will get less experience. That means when they pass their test they may be at greater risk of crashing because they won't have had as much experience when they are supervised.”

Finding out more about driving lessons for under 17s
If you’re thinking of investing in under 17s driving lessons for a friend or relative, a simple online search will reveal a growing choice of UK providers. It may be worth proceeding with care and doing your research carefully however given the potential cost. Young driver Chris Cousins from Leeds delivered the following words of caution: “When I heard that you could learn to drive early I was dead keen. I love cars and I wanted to get behind the wheel as soon as possible. I paid £65 for a lesson and found that it wasn’t really up to much. I ended up going with another driving school in Leeds when I got to 17 which was loads more affordable. I’m not really convinced that it was worth the extra cost of going with an under 17 driving school.”

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