Learning to drive at age 10

irish_goat

Not sure if this is the right forum but I've spotted this crowd in Derry who are offering driving lessons (on a private track) to 10 years old+. They claim that it makes for better drivers but I just can't see the need for anyone so young to be learning.

Research shows that it is a lack of driving experience – not a lack of years on the planet – that causes 1 in 5 newly qualified drivers to crash within 6 months of passing their test.

I can't help but think that it's just going to make young lads feel confident enough to drive before they've got their licence. Is this happening down south too?

_Brian

Never heard of it but it's not that uncommon, I learned about that age and started teaching my daughter at age 12.

Kimbot

Sure one of the Pro Drifters in Irlenad is only 16/17 isnt he.

Musketeer4

I learned to drive at about 6 or 7, same as a lot of people from a farming background. Dad used to sit me in the tractor and let me drive, well steer, back through the fields when we had to go back to the yard.

mickdw

It is clear that people who are driving from around 9 or 10 are better drivers in terms of controlling a car than those who learn the legal way.
I believe most people who learn from a very young age are from rural background and as such will have gained experience of a car sliding and how to control it whether it be in a mucky field or wherever. Most law abiding city people will never have the opportunity to safely slide a car and learn how to control it.
I found it quite funny on a trip to London as a child seeing grown ups struggling to carry out a 3 point turn in driving school cars cause everyone i knew could drive once they were big enough to reach the pedals.

irish_goat

Hmm, fair enough. I know growing up(in Donegal) there were a few people my age driving from when they were 16. One lad owned a car at that age and everything.

iguana

mickdw wrote: »

I found it quite funny on a trip to London as a child seeing grown ups struggling to carry out a 3 point turn in driving school cars cause everyone i knew could drive once they were big enough to reach the pedals.

I'd say there is a rather big difference between driving in London traffic and driving around an empty field.

mickdw

iguana wrote: »

I'd say there is a rather big difference between driving in London traffic and driving around an empty field.

I'm talking about basic car handling. Where your 10 year old in.mayo is sliding his car around the place, the adult in London was struggling to actually move the car at all and just looked so awkward. It was just a strange sight to see for me at the time.
Obviously yes, driving in London would be quite different to driving around a field however our friend in the driving school car hadn't got out of his own road at this stage.

Del2005

irish_goat wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum but I've spotted this crowd in Derry who are offering driving lessons (on a private track) to 10 years old+. They claim that it makes for better drivers but I just can't see the need for anyone so young to be learning.



I can't help but think that it's just going to make young lads feel confident enough to drive before they've got their licence. Is this happening down south too?

It's better to learn the pedals and gears off road than on it. Nothing better to put a novice in a panic than missing a gear and having morons blasting the horn at them.

X6.430macman

I think it's an excellent idea. When I started driving at about 12/13 I was mad. My father may let me move the car an odd time or when he was gone off I'd do something with it. I wouldn't crash or anything I'd just go faster than I really should. And I think that's the problem. When you first start you are mad for speed. Get a few years behind you and you settle down and cop on and start driving properly. With city slickers they just hop into the car do lessons, pass test on the road. The madness boy racer is still in them. Now I'm a few years older but not liegeally able to drive I just find it a waste of time and it's boring to drive like a maniac.

biko

Well it seems to be field/track driving. They're not putting children on the Derry roads.

FB page https://www.facebook.com/cruisecentredrivefromage10/

endacl

Anybody else read that as 'cruise centre drive cheese 10'?

SCOL

I young lad ( age 9 ) drives my tractor and the 4x4 no problem he's a great help around the farm he also has clocked up about 15 HRS flying time !!! as well and
loves it.

Speedwell

I would have been an excellent candidate for this; I was a conscientious child and willing to try nearly anything. I was cooking at an early age, too. As it was I internalised "driving is something other people do" by the time it came to start driving, and I learned well enough with one of my parents in the passenger seat, but just wasn't motivated at all.

K.Flyer

Best way to learn is off-road, by the age of 9 I could fully control a car. Great times. Passed my car test in a van first time at 17 and motorbike first time at 18.
I feel I was very lucky to learn that way, both motorbikes and cars / vans. You can make your mistakes, iron out any clutch / throttle and bracking issues, and you are safe and not an inconvenience to others.

K.Flyer

Thread reminded me of this...