New research reveals that family and friends of learner drivers are helping out with private practice sessions on a huge scale. Clocking up around five million hours last year, it means one in 20 drivers are giving up their time to help loved ones learn to drive, according to analysis by the AA Driving School.

That five million number breaks down to an average of 25 hours per driver with 52% of them parents, 20% relatives and 11% a spouse or partner. The rest were made up friends (12%) or someone helping out a friend’s teenager (4%).

Love or hate?

However, the big question is just how much did drivers offering private practice enjoy the experience? First, the good news as nearly a quarter said they thought it was such a positive experience that they would consider becoming a driving instructor.

Meanwhile, half said they enjoyed supervising but – and here’s the bad news – a fifth said they would never do it again.

Location matters

The amount of hours given by drivers to help learners with their private practice varies by region, too. For instance, if you live in Northern Ireland, you clearly enjoy helping out as the average private practice length comes in at a whopping 47 hours. It’s all good in Wales too with its average of 35 hours.

Alas, if you live in the North West, you’ll get a more measly 20 hours and in London, just 19. The twist in this tale though? While Wales and Northern Ireland are the most generous, they would also be the most reluctant to do it again – 21% in Wales and 33% in Northern Ireland would hold up their hands and say ‘no’ next time.

“Private practice is really important for learner drivers to help consolidate the learning from their lessons with a professional instructor.”

• Mark Born, Head of Instructor Training, AA Driving School

While it’s hugely encouraging that so many folk are willing to give up their spare time to help someone practise their driving skills, it’s vital you stay on the right side of the law if you are supervising.

Remember, you must:

  • Be over 21 and qualified to drive the vehicle you’re in, i.e., a manual
  • Have had a driving licence for over three years
  • Fit L-plates to whatever car you will be practising in
  • Not be over the drink-drive limit or using a mobile while supervising the learner – you must have your attention on the road at all times
  • Not take a learner out on a motorway; only a driving instructor in a car with dual controls is allowed to.

Also, do make sure you and the learner are insured properly – either individually or with a policy that covers both of you. Plus bear in mind that some insurance companies require the supervising driver to be over 25 – so check any policy small print closely.

Record it

Do encourage the learner to record their private practice times with an official record log (download one here), which they can use to enter the number of hours practised as well as a summary of the driving conditions.

You’ll also see there is a section where your own comments can be included. This level of information is invaluable not only to the learner – but also to their instructor who can judge exactly how test-ready the candidate is.

Don’t teach?

Finally, you may be tempted to impart pearly words of wisdom to your learner driver about driving. However, do think twice before doing this as you’re not a professional driving instructor! Instead, get the learner to practise whatever they are or have learnt in their lessons to date. When they pass their test, they’ll thank you for it.

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Main image by Freepik