This article provides advice about helping learner car drivers during private driving practice. We start with preparation.
Prepare Yourself
Check you are legally entitled to supervise a learner driver. You must:
● be at least 21 years old
● have a full driving licence,which you have held for at least 3 years, for the type of car (automatic or manual).
It is illegal to receive any payment for accompanying a learner driver. Check that the motor insurance policy allows the learner to drive the car, and the insurers know the learner’s age.
Take a driver assessment or advanced driving course to refresh your own skills and knowledge (speak to us here at Central Learner Driving for more info).
At the very least, read the latest edition of the Highway Code, and if possible, ‘Driving – the essential skills’.
Set a good example. It is much harder to convince a learner, if she or he sees that you don’t practise what you preach.
Talk to the learner’s instructor and ask when the learner is ready to begin private practice. Keep in contact during the learning period (if possible, sit in on some lessons) to support the instructor. It is very useful to keep a record of the private practice by using ‘The Driver’s Record’ or ‘The Official Guide to Accompanying L Drivers’.
Remember, rules such as the drink drive laws and the ban on using a handheld mobile phone while driving, apply to anyone supervising a learner driver.
Although you may not be driving, you are ‘in control’ of the vehicle.