Teaching someone to drive.

somefeen

Hi

I got my girlfriend insured under my name as wee present (well it was actually a tenner cheaper a year with her on it :pac:). And I'm hoping to start giving her lessons. But I'm hoping she'll get proper lessons off a professional at the same time.

Any tips at all on teaching someone to drive? I was gonna take her to an empty car park at first get her used to starting,stopping,steering and all that just so she knows how the car actually behaves before going out on the road.
Some people suggested throwing her in at the deep end. I dunno if thats a good idea.

Also, she's on the eh, petite side, any advice for getting over that issue? I was thinking cushions but I dont want her sitting to close to the airbag just in case
Cheers.

challengemaster

Let her off with an instructor first, that way she'll start learning the correct way. It'll save you some grief too

starlit

The best thing to do OP, is that your Girlfriend does a few professional lessons first just to get into good habits early on and to have you as her guide while she is learning and practising. What really you be doing is helping her practise what her instructor is teaching her, makes learning for both of you easier! She might learn quicker that way.

Say if its just to get her started on the controls and getting the car moving you could do that with her or she could just practise the pedals and the gears before even moving or turning on the car while just outside. So she get used to the car and know what to expect. Of course once she is on a road you have to accompany her at all times while she is a learner driver even if she gets to the stage she could drive on her own, she can't do that unless she passes her test and get a full licence. A split second on the road on her own she could be fined while on the learner's permit! No matter how close to home she be!

Make sure she knows the rules of the road thoroughly its good to keep the rules of the road in mind while she is learning.

I'm quiet petite myself. It depends on the car I find. The smaller the car the more adaptable it is to suit petite people. Especially for those that aren't very tall or don't have long legs to stretch to the pedals.

With me all I have to do is adjust the seat close to the wheel but not so close I am on top of it, just enough so I can reach the pedals sometimes if I am too far, my feet/legs won't stretch far enough so have to go close to the wheel.
Once I have room to move the legs and feet accordingly with the pedals and my knees not leaning on anything I am grand.

While other cars I find I have to use a cushion to give me height and to stretch to the pedals even so that my feet and legs are comfortable. I sometimes have to adjust the seat a fair bit sometimes.

Best of luck with it all and hope she do great with the learning! Happy Motoring!

somefeen

somefeen wrote: »

Hi

I got my girlfriend insured under my name as wee present (well it was actually a tenner cheaper a year with her on it :pac:). And I'm hoping to start giving her lessons. But I'm hoping she'll get proper lessons off a professional at the same time.

Any tips at all on teaching someone to drive? I was gonna take her to an empty car park at first get her used to starting,stopping,steering and all that just so she knows how the car actually behaves before going out on the road.
Some people suggested throwing her in at the deep end. I dunno if thats a good idea.

Also, she's on the eh, petite side, any advice for getting over that issue? I was thinking cushions but I dont want her sitting to close to the airbag just in case
Cheers.

Do you have your full licence over 2 years?
Did she get her learner permit after the new regulations were brought in requiring her to have a certain number of professional lessons? no "hoping for a few sometime" about it
Honestly I think you should leave her to a professional at first. You might have bad habits you don't realise, you might become stressed etc if you're not used to teaching a total learner

"throwing her in at the deep end" is the best way to get her petrified of driving and stalling on main roads getting beeped at

K4t

I'd be inclined to disregard comments suggesting paying for lessons at this stage tbh, Op. I think it's more beneficial to learn the mechanics of starting the car, moving off and reversing (basic clutch control) before paying for lessons. This is stuff you can teach her and that she will learn on her own to an extent.

An instructor can then teach her about correct observation skills, signalling, town driving and requirements for the test etc.

Mr. Presentable

Don't give driving instruction to someone you have to go home with. Really, don't.

MascotDec85

K4t wrote: »

I'd be inclined to disregard comments suggesting paying for lessons at this stage tbh, Op. I think it's more beneficial to learn the mechanics of starting the car, moving off and reversing (basic clutch control) before paying for lessons. This is stuff you can teach her and that she will learn on her own to an extent.

An instructor can then teach her about correct observation skills, signalling, town driving and requirements for the test etc.

What if the OP has bad habits himself? Would it be right to pass them onto his girlfriend? If she then has bad habits it can cost more in the long run as an instructor will have to try and get her to break them.

An instructor is best placed to teach people "the mechanics of starting the car, moving off and reversing (basic clutch control)" the latter of which a hell of a lot of qualified drivers don't do properly.

Learning to drive can be particularly stressful for the learner, it can also be very stressful for someone who is not trained to deal with those stresses. Arguments often ensue in these circumstances as the participants are too related to each other. The "instructor" is often scared about their car being damaged, has no dual controls and no clue how to effectively take control of the car should anything go wrong.

I've no problem and would encourage the OP to help his girlfriend learn to drive but only after she has taken lessons from a professional who should teach her properly from the outset. No harm to the OP but his very post on here tells you he is unsure of how to go about it. When his girlfriend is confident and competent is the right time to be helping her.

Vanbis

You need to have plenty of patience. My advice would be to get her moving and confident and get her a few lessons after.

I gave my younger sister driving lessons when she was ready. I brought her into a local industrial estate. I gave her the basics and got her moving and parking, confident enough to get some lessons with an instructor. I booked her a couple of lessons after because you have to learn to drive in the real world and in a live situation. She passed her test first time and of course i always take the credit for that one

Philipandson

getting an instructor to do some lessons with her is really the best policy for two reason's,

1) she gets off to the best start with driving learning the right way to do things from the word go, you maybe a good driver but what bad habits do you have? have you the patience to teach her? and there are countless other questions that need to be asked.

2) when you are in a relationship with the person you are teaching it can be hard for both people, you can fight over who is right and wrong, it can put a huge strain on your relationship in my humble opinion.

macroman

Don't do it if you've a short fuse - an argument waiting to happen. If you can bite your tongue and let her get on with it can't see the harm in accompanying her to build up the confidence, but leave the instruction up to the professionals!

ADIDriving

Good Advice from Macroman. That is one of the most important things. That and of course the legal requirments as mentioned above, by others. If she only got her licence recently, she should do three hours of practice ( that little bit of stopping and starting etc. in a car park that you plan ) before her first EDT lesson. That at least is the plan according to the RSA.