You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
My son has finally expressed a wish to learn to drive and has asked me to take him out in my wife's car, a manual Clio. Anyone gone through this recently have any tips to share?
Don't! Let an ADI teach your son to a point where he'd be reasonably independent then add some extra miles with you in the Clio
Start real slow, like dropping the clutch in 1st & stalling it slow. Make sure he learns how the clutch works.
Another in the "Don't" camp.
Leave it to a professional. Once they are fairly confident in a dual control car, it will be marginally less stressful taking him out.
If you must, just start by going to a car park with a few small inclines and teach him how to balance the clutch instinctively and change a couple of gears.
I had to teach my two during the pandemic...fun times!
Let a DI teach them, then when they just need extra hours of practice and experience just sit in for that. Even resist the desire to teach them, the DI knows how to prep them to pass a test, and you don't need to muddy the water with "how you do it".
That's a mistake I made, I thought he was teaching her to be over cautious, not making progress where she could, etc. She passed her test with 1 minor fault so what did I know!
A dual-control car would make more sense but don't forget bikers learn to ride a bike without dual controls.
So as per martin above, get the clutch control sorted first. Lots of starts/stops in first gear, biting points, etc. Then progress to a few gear changes.
Still think it would be best to leave it to a professional, though! Good luck!
We have done this for our three:-
- they have to get 3 lessons before:
- I hire the dual control car (most hire places have) for the first time out with them
- they keep up lessons
- I drive with them at least twice a week in our own car, I take my lead from driving instructor.
Two passed first time, last one second time after examiner took him (unusually) to the motorway services roundabout and it didn't go well.... All three were about 3-4 months from zero to pass
I've taught lots of professional drivers through D1 and D1+E. I'm understanding of what makes a safe, smooth and confident driver, and get many of the rhythms the instructor teaches them. I'm used to teaching/training. I'm also pretty chilled.
I would not be the only instructor - they need to know so many things that examiners look for, the local test routes and 'sticky spots'.
Also, as soon as they have a provisional you need to get the main test booked - one of ours has a friend who applied for a test in March and was given one in September. Then download and pay for the cancellation auto book app, and just keep looking for tests closer
A dual-control car would make more sense but don’t forget bikers learn to ride a bike without dual controls.
But don't they learn the controls and manoeuvring mainly in an off road situation first?
You can save a lot of time/money by teaching them the basics. You can print out the moving off procedure so they are practicing correctly from day one, rather than you teaching them wrong, and the learner having to re learn. Videos available as well so you can watch yourself.
If there is somewhere safe its great to work on moving off and stopping. Learning normally involves a lot of stalling and kangarooing. Saves a lot of money compared to lessons. If they have good basic car control and familiarity they can listen to what the instructor is saying, rather than learning how to drive and how to pass a test.
With parents helping you can pass in 10 instructor lessons rather than the average 45 (from personal experience a couple of times).
Its just a process, not magic. (obviously if you just make it up as you think best it will cause issues)
I'm absolutely not doing this instead of an ADI, rather in addition to an ADI. He has requested a bit of time in the car to get a feel for the controls before getting lessons. Clutch control is the number one priority here.
But don’t they learn the controls and manoeuvring mainly in an off road situation first?
Yes, but it's only for an hour or 2 and then it's out onto the open road if the instructor is happy with progress. The instructor will ride behind the learners to offer some protection but that's not always possible due to traffic. So as a learner rider, it's possible you could find yourself in a bit of a situation i.e. can't do a hill start 🤣 - I speak from experience lol!
The OP would need to find a quiet car park somewhere.
I’d be happy to spend some time in a large, empty space showing how the basic mechanics work, ie starting the car, getting it into gear, checking the mirror, pulling away, and changing up and down through the ‘box, stuff like that, just to get the would-be driver comfortable with what is, at first, a daunting and complicated process.
Actually driving the car on an open road would not be an option, that’s where actual driving instruction is needed. Once the learner is comfortable with the actual process of getting the car moving, and then driving in traffic, at that point I’d let them drive around a bit with me as a passenger, but only after a few weeks of them having proper training; dual controls are fitted to learner cars for a very good reason!
I got my licence in 1977, 46 years ago, and I’ve driven hundreds of different vehicles, some of those with modifications for disabled drivers, over many thousands of miles, and I consider myself to be a competent driver, but there’s no way I consider myself to be capable of teaching someone to drive a car safely.
I taught both my kids, I didn't plan to but covid made getting lessons difficult.
I bought a cheap manual between lock downs and started with basic car control in a car park - that takes a few hours and really I think a bit of a waste to pay an instructor to do.
Only once they got the hang of this did we start to venture out on real roads and built up from there. Tests could only be booked with a long wait so there was plenty of time to practice.
I didn't want to learn the specifics needed to pass a test we did employ an instructor to do the polish, my daughter had 12 lessons and my son 16, both passed first time. A friend of mine got his kids all the way through their test himself, so it is possible.
You do have to have a lot of restraint, patience and not get too anxious. My wife is a too highly strung and made the sensible decision not to take them out until they were already driving well, so I don't think it's for everyone.
If you must, just start by going to a car park with a few small inclines and teach him how to balance the clutch instinctively and change a couple of gears.
This, but then pack them off to an instructor.
A dual-control car would make more sense but don’t forget bikers learn to ride a bike without dual controls.
yes, but they don’t have the potential to kill you both if they press the wrong pedal 😉
My eldest turns 16 in July , we are booking driving lessons for him at a local place where they have a mock road course set up. He’s driven my vehicles a few times (off road of course), but they are autos so needs to get some experience in a manual before doing it for real when he’s 17
yes, but they don’t have the potential to kill you both if they press the wrong pedal 😉
But a biker doesn't have someone who could potentially step in to prevent a dangerous situation. So they just kill themselves 🤷♀️
A dual-control car would make more sense but don’t forget bikers learn to ride a bike without dual controls.
That would need to be some sort of complex tandem bike or side car affair and therefore wouldn’t be the same sort of vehicle they’d end up driving. You learn to ride a bike the way you do because it’s pretty much the only option.
Taught my eldest the mechanics of driving in the family car. Lots of stalling, crunched gears etc. Once he'd got the basics down we packed him off to an instructor.
He failed his first test and had a disagreement with the instructor over how many more lessons he'd need.
So in the end he did lots of driving practice in the family car and took his test the second time in that.
The instructor was recommended by a friend of his but my observations were that he'd been taught to maneuver (parallel and bay parking) for that car only, a Fiesta, using reference points. When it came to doing it in the family car (Octavia) he was crap. So I taught/he practiced, based on the wheelbase of the car rather than turning 2" after his mirror passed the rear wheel of the other car or whatever nonsense.
I'm by no means the best driver in the world but he passed second time with a couple of minors. But I think it was the practice more than anything.
As mentioned above the instructor will know the routes and teach them which lane to be in for particular junctions and roundabouts and any other tricks of the trade. I really struggled with the latter as for me it was almost muscle memory, so having to actively tell him which lane to get in was a bit of a brain strain.
That would need to be some sort of complex tandem bike or side car affair and therefore wouldn’t be the same sort of vehicle they’d end up driving. You learn to ride a bike the way you do because it’s pretty much the only option.
Indeed, it would take a complex bit of kit 🤣
My point to the OP though is don't be afraid to take your son out in a car without dual controls - bikers have to master the art of controlling a bike without that assistance. Just find somewhere quiet and be ready with the handbrake 🤣
The difference between a bike and a car is width and the easier perception of width and road position on a bike as compared to a car. The handbrake won't cut it when your offspring goes for a gap 🙂
Lots of people say don’t and in principle that is right. BUT it is worth taking them out to an empty car park a few times to learn the basic skill of starting in first with a clutch, changing up/down between 1st and 2nd, braking smoothly without stalling, and steering.
These are all simple mechanical skills they just need a few sessions of practice in a low risk environment to develop. After that leave it to a DI to teach them how to drive safely on the roads, until they get to the final stage if needing some hours of accompanied driving just before the test.
That’s what I did with my daughters and they both did fine.
Lots of people say don’t and in principle that is right
What's the principle that says don't? I get that it's not for everybody, some may not take instruction from a partner for example, but there's no legal or moral reason not to. My daughter was pretty much doing all family driving duty as practice before we got an instructor in, and a friend got his kids through their test himself. I consider them all safe and curtious drivers I'm happy to be in the car with.
3 sons and they were all driving before they turned 18, only had lessons with instructors in dual-controls.
Also not one of them has ever driven any of our cars, and they each got a car once they'd passed their tests.
Youngest 2 also did their CBT's and had scooters at 16 - recommended as both decent & safe drivers.
If absolutely necessary I reckon I could teach / have taught my kids to drive. First by learning basic controls off road somewhere, then on the road. Would have been nervy at times not having dual control - even once she was competent and we were just doing time behind the wheel as supplement we had a couple of FFFFFUUUUUCC!!!!! moments where I had to correct the wheel or just shut eyes and cling on (one time I clenched so hard I swallowed a fistful of front seat with my arse)
But I'm also pretty sure I couldn't have got them test ready- as per earlier post some of the stuff I thought she was deficient on clearly she wasn't, passing first time with no minors
As has been said, leave the actual teaching up to someone better qualified to avoid teaching them your bad habits.
Also, who's the calmer in stressful situations, you or your wife?
I know a couple of my mates only ever had their dad's sat in the back and told to shut up by their mum's, as if they were supervising, it just resulted in lots of 'critiquing' so nobody really benefitted and everybody just got stressed.
The ability to sit and avoid doing/saying anything unless the situation really warrants it is a skill on it's own.
It's worth having a quick chat with the driving instructor after each lesson, to see what they suggest you work on with them.
I can't drive, so on that side of things I can be of little help. But I have been cycling on the road for 30 years, and in those 3 decades I've learned an important lesson, and one should should instill in him more that any.
Drive defensively, allow the other driver to go first.
Left foot braking.
I just did it with my son, have spare shirt and underpants available after first drive….
Only brake pedal and extra mirrors for teacher are required here, in addition to applying permit for teacher.
We practiced from May to December, in addition to him taking cheapest driving school course to get him ’unlimited’ license instead of automatic only license. Passed on first take even with some comments from instructor.