Parents are often the first to volunteer as instructors when their kids are old enough to learn how to drive. Having mum, dad or other family members prepared to give up their time to teach this skill may seem like a well intentioned and fantastic idea in theory. However, there many valid reasons why it’s recommend that parents delegate this responsibility to a professional driving instructor. Some of the most common reasons are;
- Safety first. Just like learning anything, driving can be complex at first getting used to the steering, accelerator, brake, and paying attention to the surrounding environment including vehicles and pedestrians. This will become natural to you in time, but for the moment they demand your undivided attention. With your focus drawn between so many new actions it is easy to become overwhelmed and make mistakes especially under pressure. This is why when something goes wrong it can be very hard for learners to react quickly before it becomes dangerous. Professional driving instructors are well trained to quickly assess your strengths and weaknesses and use them to your advantage. Professional driving instructors have modern vehicles fitted with dual controls (second brake & accelerator in the passenger side) and the highest safety rating
- Education. Similar to other professions, driving instructors must keep themselves up to date with road rules and what driving examiners are assessing in the driving test. It makes them a great resource for learning safe driving and how to pass the provisional driving test, rather than failing on minor details and avoidable mistakes. A driving instructor will teach the correct way to drive from the very beginning of their lessons, leaving little room for bad habits to creep in. As added incentive, the RMS allows licensed driving instructors to credit every 1 Hour driving lesson to 3 hours driving experience in your log book. A maximum of 10 hours will be recorded as 30 hours
- Familiarity. Driving Instructors spend most of their time on local roads and are very familiar with the streets and general movement of traffic. It comes in handy to know where you will be taken for the driving test but also allows you to experience a range of different environments to ensure that your comfortable and confident on the road in many situations. The biggest bonus of all is that the instructor will choose the appropriate location to begin your lessons according to your level of experience and progress from that point onward.
