When taking your driving lessons with driveJohnson’s, your driving instructor may have advised you that practising your driving outside of lessons could be beneficial and help you pass faster. However, you may be unsure of who else, other than your driving instructor, can teach you to drive. There are some things to bear in mind if you’re considering having some private practice outside of your driving lessons. To help you, we’ve created this guide which outlines everything you need to know about learning with friends or relatives.
Who can supervise learner drivers?
You may be surprised to hear that anyone can supervise learner drivers as long as they are over the age of 21, have held their full driving licence for three years and are qualified to drive the type of vehicle in which they are supervising in.
The rules laid out when it comes to supervising learner drivers are there to ensure everyone remains safe and to make sure you are learning with a confident and experienced driver.
Learner driver supervisor rules
There are a strict set of learner driver supervisor rules that must be followed when supervising a learner driver. The person supervising a learner driver must:
- Have held a full driving licence for three years (from countries in the EU or EEA)
- Be qualified to drive the type of vehicle they are supervising in (for example, is supervising in a manual vehicle you must be qualified to drive a manual vehicle)
- Have the relevant car insurance or ensure the learner has provisional insurance
- Make sure the car is in a safe and legal condition to drive
- Display L-plates on the vehicle while the learner is driving
- Not use a mobile phone while supervising the learner or be under the influence of alcohol
What are the pros and cons of practising driving outside lessons?
The best way to learn to drive is with a qualified driveJohnson’s driving instructor. Our driving instructors have years of experience in teaching people to drive and will teach you in the safest way possible. Nonetheless, having some private practice with a friend or family member outside of your driving lessons can be hugely beneficial and can speed up the process. We have put together a list of all the pros and cons of practising driving outside lessons:
Pros
- Extra practice will boost the skills you have picked up during your driving lessons with your instructor
- Improve confidence and muscle memory
- You can practise driving at any time of the day, gain experience in night-time driving
- More driving experience without paying for extra lessons
Cons
- You will have to pay for learner driver insurance
- The advice you receive outside of lessons may conflict with what your instructor has taught you which could lead to confusion
- Can be difficult to adjust to a different car and get used to different controls
- The vehicle is unlikely to have dual controls so your supervising driver will not be able to step in if they need to
Can I use private practice instead of learning with an instructor?
If you’ve found someone suitable who’s willing to teach you to drive, you may be tempted to save yourself some money and skip learning with a driving instructor altogether. We would advise against this; private practice should supplement driving lessons, not replace them.
While we don’t doubt that the friend or relative offering to teach you to drive is a safe and confident driver, it’s likely that they may have picked up a few bad habits over the years. Most drivers will pick up a few bad habits, such as crossing hands whilst driving or driving with one hand. Many drivers don’t even notice their bad habits which could lead to you forming the same bad habits. Your driving instructor will know to look out for these things and will correct you if they see you doing anything you shouldn’t be doing.
The process of learning to drive is changing all the time as the DVSA brings in new driving test requirements. DVSA-approved driving instructors will always be up-to-date with the latest processes and are continuously developing professionally to ensure they are up to scratch with the latest. It is unlikely that a friend or relative is going to be 100% aware of the process of learning to drive, therefore what they teach you may be outdated. For example, in 2017 reverse round corner and turn in the road manoeuvres were removed from the practical driving test and the independent driving part of the test was increased to 20 minutes.
Practising driving outside lessons
Practising driving outside lessons will generally have a beneficial impact on the learner driver, you can also opt to take your friend or relative with you on your driving test. It’s a great way to practice what you’ve learnt in between lessons and will help you to remember the skills you’ve been taught. Driving outside of lessons is also an excellent way to get used to driving regularly and at different times of the day. If your supervising driver is available, why not get them to supervise you on a drive to work or school so that you can experience driving in rush hour traffic and prepare yourself for driving alone for the first time! One pupil who was having driving lessons in Newbury with us, got their partner to take them out for practice in between lessons with their instructor so that they didn’t forget what they had learnt.
