Teach Someone To Drive | Everything You Need To Know Leave a comment

Nowadays, knowing how to drive is a necessity. However, driving lessons can be costly and time-consuming. Did you know that you could teach a loved one to drive if you’re qualified? It’s not only fulfilling it is also very practical.

This activity is an ultimate bonding experience between you and your loved one, but remember that there is a huge responsibility when teaching someone to drive.

Legal Considerations

Qualifications of Teacher/Supervisor

• Must be at least 21 years of age or over.
• Must have a full driving licence for at least three years
• Qualified to drive the vehicles they are supervising in. Must have a manual driving licence if supervising in a manual vehicle.

Qualifications of Learner Driver

• Must be at least 17 years old.
• Must have a valid provisional driving licence for the vehicles being used – manual or automatic.

Additionally, both the supervisor and the learner driver should meet the legal minimum eyesight standards and ensure that the vehicle is in safe and legal condition for driving.

Insurance

Make sure the learner driver is insured to drive the vehicle they are using for private practice.

Supervising Driver Owns the Vehicle

If the supervising driver or another person owns the vehicle used for the driving lesson, make sure that it has an insurance policy that includes the learner driver. Always note the restrictions provided by the insurance.

Learner Driver Owns the Vehicle

If the learner driver owns the vehicle used for the driving lesson, the supervising driver must make sure that he/she is included in the insurance policy. The learner also has the option to get provisional insurance from two hours up to 90 days to be covered; this will also protect the owner to No Claims Bonus.

Important Note: You can face an unlimited fine, be banned from driving, and can get up to eight penalty points for driving without insurance.

L Plates

One thing you should not forget when you teach someone to drive is L Plate! It is illegal for learner drivers to drive without them displayed. Additionally, having L Plates displayed on the vehicle will help other road users determine that a learner driver is behind the wheel.

Also, never forget to remove the L Plates when the learner driver is not behind the wheel as The Highway Code states so.

Get Your Vehicle Ready

You must have a legally safe and working vehicle for the driving lesson to proceed. You must familiarize yourself with the vehicle you’re about to use; know the fuels and know the position of the knobs and controls.

Check the vehicle for:

• Tyres must be in legal working condition. The tyre pressure must be correct, and there must be no cuts or bulges. The legal minimum tread depth is 1.6mm.
• Check the level of oil, coolant, and windscreen wash before driving.
• Brakes must be working properly
• All mirrors must be correctly positioned.
• Lights and indicators are working properly.
• There must be no damage to the windscreen and windows.
• There should be no signs of vehicle damage.

How To Teach Someone To Drive?

Before you teach someone to drive, assess yourself first to see if you have the qualities to do it. You need to be very patient, and you must have great communication skills to do this task successfully.

Now, if you believe you and your learner driver are ready to hit the road here are some great tips to help you out:

Plan Carefully

Remember, your aim is to pass your knowledge and skills so the learner driver will pass his/her driving test. You’ll achieve this by planning the lesson objectively.

There are two things you need to consider when creating a lesson plan; the driving syllabus and if the learner driver is enrolled in a driving lesson with a professional driving instructor. Keep in mind that if the learner driver is having lessons with a professional driving instructor, you must only repeat the lessons taught to avoid any confusion.

Now, if the learner driver is taking lessons from you alone, you must plan the driving lesson based on the DVSA driving syllabus.

The syllabus is both for trainers and learner drivers as it aims to provide a systematic approach to gaining knowledge, skills, and understanding for safe and responsible road use.

At the end of the syllabus the learner driver is expected to demonstrate:

• Knowledge and understanding of the theory of safety driving
• Application of  theoretical knowledge in actual driving
• Reflect on owns driving performance and acknowledge mistakes and wrongdoings and take action if needed.

Consider the Routes Carefully

Part of your planning should include the routes and roads you’ll take for the driving lesson. If you know what routes to take, you’ll have better concentration plus be more confident in teaching. Considering the driving test routes will also help the learner driver during the actual driving test.

Record Driving Lesson

It will be great to keep a track record of your learner’s progress. This way you’ll get to know what aspects you need to improve on. You can create a progress sheet based on the driving syllabus to keep track of your learner driver’s progress.

Find, Evaluate, and Correct Faults

Your role as an instructor is very crucial in helping a student driver pass the exam and become a responsible driver. To successfully do this you must be very keen on finding and evaluating faults. It is also important to point this out whenever the learner driver makes on. This way you’ll help your learner correct the mistakes made that could bring hazard to him/her, you, and the road users. Never move on to the next part without correcting the faults made.

Be Clear with the Instructions and Directions

Your goal is to teach not confuse. If you feed too much information to a person, chances are they’ll get confused much so if you feed them rather unclear instructions and directions.  Please don’t rely on their common sense; a good instructor will exert effort in providing detailed and clear information. Don’t just say “turn left” instead say “turn left at the next corner” or “turn left at Abbey Road.”

Important Notes To Consider

Taking Passengers During Driving Lessons

While a learner driver may take as many passengers as the vehicle can legally hold, it is advisable not to do so. To keep distractions to a minimum, it’s better if only the teacher/supervisor and the learner driver are present during the driving lessons.

Motorway

One thing you have to remember is that it is never permittable to supervise a learner driver in the motorway. Learner drivers must stay off the motorway at all costs.

Payment

Only a qualified driving instructor may take payments for driving lessons, so if you’re thinking of teaching someone to drive to earn money, think again.

Teaching someone to drive can be fun and full of excitement. However, you always must consider the bigger responsibilities this task includes. Take it seriously because it involves the safety of many people.