Are your children Learning to Drive?

Are your Children Learning to Drive?

I have tried researching learning to drive and how many hours it takes. It seems there is no answer! How much does it now cost for children to learn to drive. I learnt as soon as I turned 17, having around 40 lessons costing £10 each (23 years ago!). I can guarantee its nothing like £400 now to learn to drive!

A quick check with a learner driver company says its £40 per hour for first 10 hours then £25 per hour. Wowzers, 40 lessons will cost £1,150! I am sure there are ways of getting this cost down the big one being parents teaching their children to drive. Could you do it?

My blogger buddy Emma Bradley has a daughter who just passed her test. Emma too Chloe out for a lesson every week (Emma is very calm and composed) and they did formal lessons too. 15 lessons at £25 each, so a cost of £375, impressive Emma, cheaper than what I paid 23 years ago. And Chloe passed first time.

Vauxhall have send over some very funny and interesting statistics concerning parents teaching their children to drive.

• 1 in 10 mums would rather give birth again than be driven by their child (LJ – um no, giving birth, and I remember the pain to this day, felt like being killed)
• Parents spend 364 hours a year driving their kids around – equivalent to watching series 1-6 of Game of Thrones SIX times (we spend way more than this, in just 1 week we spend 12 hours driving to football training/games)
• Research announced by Vauxhall Motors celebrates brand’s new partnership with Young Driver programme

 Are you scared of Teaching your children to drive?

New research by Vauxhall Motors revealed today shows two fifths (41 per cent) of parents are terrified at the thought of their kids driving them around when they’re learning with nearly half (42 per cent) admitting to forgetting the highway code themselves.

For parents who bravely take the role as driving instructor, nearly one in five trips resulted in a dented car along with a quarter admitting to having snapped when sitting in the instructor’s seat.

What’s more, despite over half of kids (53 per cent) thinking dad is a better driver than mum, 20 per cent of driving lessons with dad has resulted in a crash – compared to only 8 per cent for mums.

The research, looking at the driving habits of 1,000 children and their parents, revealed that while 57 per cent of parents can’t wait for their kids to be able drive themselves – nearly the same amount (52 per cent) wouldn’t trust themselves as their instructor.

Dream Driving Instructors

When it comes to dream instructors, Lewis Hamilton takes the top spot with 21 per cent of kids wanting personal lessons with the racing pro – with Prince Harry (8.5%), James Corden (7.3%) and Ed Sheeran (10%) also making the top ten.

Conducted by Vauxhall Motors to celebrate the brand’s new partnership with Young Driver programme – 11 per cent of mums would even chose to give birth again than have their child drive them around and the same number of dads would prefer to do a bungee jump.

It comes as no surprise that over a quarter (27 per cent) wouldn’t trust either of their parents to teach them how to drive – with 70 per cent believing they’ll be a better driver than their parents with they pass their test with professional instruction.

Despite their confidence,  almost half of those learning (52 per cent) think it’s more stressful than school exams and 45 per cent believe it’s more stressful than a first date.

Comment from Vauxhall Motors

Denis Chick at Vauxhall Motors comments: “As a father of three, I can safely say that I’ve spent much of my life transporting my youngsters around. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’ve had a meltdown teaching them but when it comes to learning, we definitely think it is wisest to leave it to the professionals. As the research has shown, it seems most parents agree. We want our children to be safe on the road and the Young Driver courses are a perfect way to experience being behind the wheel of a car before doing the real thing on the road.”

The research was conducted to mark the new partnership between Vauxhall Motors and Young Driver, the world’s most comprehensive driving education programme that teaches youngsters from five to 17 years old.

For more information about Young Driver click here and for more information on Vauxhall Motors click here