Hi, what does everyone think about teaching someone else to drive. I've been driving 5+ years and thought if i could teach the girlfriend she can pick me up from the pub Shes proper nervous about driving after her first lessons with an instructor at 17 which put her right off it. So i thought with myself teaching her on some quiet roads it might help her get started. Or will it do more harm than good picking up my habbits? Has anyone taught their wife/gf/other?
Adam

you say shes's 17 ? i'll teach her if you like...

no dont teach her let her have a few lessons and when shes ok go out with her for her to gain exsperiance.

Don't teach her yourself or soon she will be your ex girlfriend. Get her a decent instructor instead.

I'm teaching my girlfriend, but like graememk says she'd had a good few lessons first and was already pretty good. With me she's just getting road experience and clutch practice.

If starting with somebody from scratch I'd start at an industrial estate in the evening or something and just do pulling off and stopping over and over again until clutch control is totally nailed. Instinctive even. Then out onto the roads. I find that worrying about biting points, releasing handbrake, stalling etc etc on top of the rules of the road is the biggest cause of stress and mistakes learning to drive - too much at once. Get the basic control first then go out onto the road!

Liam

P.S. I hope you two get on well

Sorry dude. As above, dont teach her but go out driving with her for experience

what happened with this lesson she had then?

I agree with the others, passing your test isn't about driving like everyone does, its about driving how they want you to, to be able to pass.

Only an insructor really has the knowledge to do that properly.

Oh, and you will argue like mad.

So in summery, if you don't like sex then go for it!

As above too much hassle really.

Its quite funny with her first lesson although i probably shouldnt mention it. She'l never see this right - she had a very strong accented scottish instructor and couldnt understand a word he said and i think she might have had a little crash. We dont speak of this event though I think your all right with lessons then myself helping her with practise, but i dont think she'd get in a car with an instructor to start with again - fussy women!

I have been teaching her brother to drive. He is 17 and I dont know how were still alive!! I would definately let her go out with an instructor for a few lessons and then with you for some general practice.

find her a female instructor and she'll be happy enough i think

I'm teaching my wife to drive at the moment. Going fine. Lots of 20-30 minute lessons. You just need to have serious amounts of patience....

my dad orginally taught me to drive, but my mum and my wife took me out too. Most recently my wife in our micra.

It took me 4 years to get my lience! Uni kept getting in the way, had lessons with dad and mum at 18. They went ok, dads got a few white hairs from it tho!

My wife taught me in my last year of uni with our falling to bits micra. She passed when she was 17. I finally past by taking a intensive course at blackpool.

You deffo need someone good and who knows what they are doing for the first lessons and final lessons. (My dad was at one stage learning to be a driving instructer)

Get her driving lessons with a female instructor. One thing to remember is that they have the insurance to cover knocks and they also have dual controls.

I taught wife and 3 kids to drive. Well, up to a point.

I did a lot of time with them on basics, mainly clutch control, in car parks etc. -reverse parking and hill starts and reversing round corners etc - Then turned them over to professional instructors. So they had the basic car control skills from me for nothing and then didn't waste too much expensive time with the professionals who did the road experience etc. After that, I would sit in to give them practice but didn't try to instruct.

It seemed to work - the divorce was for something non car-related

D.I.V.O.R.C.E

i got the wife started, clutch and gears etc in a carpark. The round and around local roads. I can drive without bad habits so that wasnt a problem, though you need to make a point of driving well even when not on a lesson, as they will always be watching! I have a lot of patience and luckily the car was very cheap just in case!

Make her set off in second without using the throttle, thats clutch control sorted!

My GF was always changing gear for me way before she was old enough to drive (no smut intended). She got to know when to change and how to do it. She eventually took lessons and she nearly always drove when we went anywhere, once she had her provisional, just to get experience. But I am very patient and I let her do her thing. She almost ran a horse over that was looking over a fence at us. Oh how we laughed.......
But that was before all this '21yrs old, minimum of 3 years, business.....

take her out once to see what she already knows about driving and what she can do in a carpark, using the clutch and the first couple of gears. If she's got some idea then be brave and take her out properly. But do the lessons in short stints, half hour at a time so she's fully alert and not tiring by the end of the lesson.

If however you're concerned for anyone's safety, or you or her are not happy that she will STOP if you shout at her to stop; or if that kind of thing is going to cause arguments, then leave it, get her some proper lessons to get the basics sorted.

My dad taught me to drive but I was a natural

I started teaching a girlfriend to drive a few years ago but she was a little ahem, sensitive, so it wasn't worth the hassle. Also there seemed to be some confusion as to the difference between things like arse and elbow/ left and right.

I think i may try getting her started as i remember wasting 5 lessons atleast mastering the likes of hill starts, clutch control etc and that all costs money. Lessons are about £5 more than when i was learning at £15-16 and over what i imagine would easily be 20-30 lessons thats a lot with insurance, the car (might borrow my sisters while shes traveling) and all the new crap to get her through the theory test. For people who taught someone any pointers ie mirror checking etc and most importantly did your apprentice take in what you taught them and actually get a driving licence?
Thanks
Adam

I don't have any particular tips re the teaching, other than many short stints as i said before.

Aside from that though you might consider getting some lessons once she "can drive" and is getting ready to take the test as like someone said above, driving properly or normally, and driving for the test are different things.

Actually I suppose having said that I'd suggest that while you teach her have in mind that she has to take a test at the end of it, so things like the where the hands are on the steering wheel and 'shuffling' are important to use from the start.

To some the idea of learning and then getting some lessons sounds the wrong way round but that's what I did, my dad taught me to drive properly, and then I had a lesson with an instructor just before I took my test to make sure I was doing things they wanted to see in the test. Very locost that way round aswell :-)

you do need an instructor really to learn all the stuff you can forget straight away! my instructor was really good was constantly telling what to do if this or that happens etc. I failed the first time i took my test, was abit annoyed as the course i was on was in blackpool but the test was in southport and becuse we had to rush etc did not do well.

Booked a test in blackpool 6 weeks later had a few lessons in the mean time and passed easily.

I have problems with left and right in that if someone says go left if i don't think i go right. It seems inherent in left hand people as my mum has the same problem and we are both left handed.

This haunts my dad as on my first lesson on the road i went right instead of left and ended up at a huge roundabout with no idea what to do!

My dad made me learn clutch control by making me learn in about 6 different cars in the industrial car park. One plus of living in a industrial town, lots of pollution but also big empty car parks in the estate after 5!