10 Year Olds Learn To Drive As A Way Of Spreading the Cost - News

• Children as young as 10 are having driving lessons to get ahead of the impact of eye watering costs of learning to drive
• Cost of passing driving test accelerates to an average of more than £2,000
• Number of under 17s learning to drive surges by more than 120%

Children as young as 10 are resorting to having driving lessons in a bid to get ahead – as the average cost of passing a driving test accelerates to more than £2,000 in the UK.

The typical beginner needs around 45 hours of on-the-road tuition according to the RAC – costing between £25 and £45 an hour.

With a provisional licence costing up to £43, a theory test costing £23, and a practical test hitting £62 on weekdays and £75 at the weekends with the DVSA, parents are now booking under 17 driving lessons in a hope to get their children used to handling a car before they reach the legal on-road age of 17.

At TrackDays.co.uk, as we specialise in providing driver training for under 17s, we have recently seen a spike of more than 120% in the number of bookings from early teens – and their parents – in an effort to save money and spread the cost.

Dan Jones, Operations Manager at TrackDays.co.uk, says: "The cost of passing your driving test is now eye watering, this is before you factor in the price of fuel and insurance."

"It is encouraging to see smart-thinking young adults and their parents planning ahead to get behind the wheel as early as possible to learn the essentials which will reduce the investment needed when they reach their 17th birthday."

"Apart from the financial advantages, it is also important to consider the safety benefits of getting behind the wheel as early as possible, with many collisions involving young drivers a result of loss of control, getting to grips with the basics as soon as possible could pay dividends in the future."

Qualified driving instructors give youngsters an initial safety briefing and teach basic manoeuvres from clutch control, gear changes, steering, and braking before heading out on a secure track at more than 20 locations across the UK.

Across the country the number of practical tests in 2013/14 was almost 1.5 million – but by last year this had reduced to just over 1.2 million – a drop of nearly 16% in a decade.

But the grim statistics reveal that young male drivers between 17 and 24 are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured compared to all drivers over 25. And the cause is much more likely to be a combination of loss of control, excess speed and inexperience.

Visit our all new Under 17s Driving Lessons page on the TrackDays website for more information, and check out our regularly updated Under 17s Driving Lessons Calendar page, with all the latest date availability.