Marmalade and Driving

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wonderwoman
Posts: 511
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07 pm

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by wonderwoman »

I can't get any insurance for DD to drive my car - def not worth £20k, I think £500 would be stretching it.

DSs will probably end up having to share a farm vehicle - already insured for any driver at all, including new drivers, for about £750.
Ally
Posts: 299
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:30 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by Ally »

Having recently had a 19yr old boy scape the side of DH's new car. We managed to traced him via his employer and the boy's Mum had to bring him back and speak for him as he was to scared. I decided that DS won't be learning to drive until he can afford it himself as he's be a little older and more likely to be responsible. I hadn't realized how expansive it's to get DC's insured and I'm alarmed at the cost and now know why the boy and his mum wouldn't give us their insurance details but offered a suitable amount of cash. Maybe we should have insisted on their insurance details as they would have found it more painful :)
solimum
Posts: 1420
Joined: Wed May 09, 2007 3:09 pm
Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by solimum »

Ally - I can understand why you would want to wait, but there are several counter arguments. Once DC are (hopefully!) away at university it is much more difficult for them to arrange regular driving lessons and practice - also there is the difficulty of deciding where to take a test when time is split between two locations (friends had a daughter who suffered from this and went through a number of retests). Also if they don't have a driving license by the time they graduate it may seriously restrict employment choices in an increasingly competitive market.

If they are able to learn while still at sixth form it can be possible to arrange regular lessons from an instructor who will pick them up (maybe on an afternoon when they finsh early) thus potentially relieving one long bus trip. If they can then be insured to drive on a family car they will have far more opportunities to build up practice, possibly with you accompanying them once or twice a week to drive to sixth form, to the shops, taking siblings to music lessons etc, and you/ OH will be able to judge their developing ability and hopefully gain confidence in ultimatley allowing them (once passed) to take the car on increasingly long solo trips. Then if you are able to share the driving on those first heavy-laden motorway trips to university, and later (as I have done with two DSs now) let them borrow the car to bring their own stuff back for the holidays, or to take their girlfriend home etc etc - if it's your car, you can make the rules about numbers of passengers (very few at first), times of journeys (not after midnight?), alcohol (none at all) etc to help them improve as responsible drivers. Also once they are away at university many insurance companies will reduce the premiums as they presume the students are not driving so regularly on a car left at home.

In a way I feel (and this is having not paid for private education, 11 plus tutors etc but having invested a lot in music lessons) that learning to drive is one of those things that as a parent I should try and contribute to as a vital life skill for my DC, even if the cost is painful for a couple of years. My youngest DD, still only 16, has already had a couple of "Young Driver" lessons on a private car park, so hopefully won't spend so much of her first few proper on-road lessons stalling and will be able to concentrate on being aware of the traffic around her...

I'm not saying this is easy! The process of first taking my DSs out on the road and then subsequently letting them out unaccompanied has been frankly terrifiying - possibly the scariest thing since first leaving them at home alone with a babysitter or letting them walk to school on their own! We have also had differences of opinion between OH and DSs as to which trips are permitted when, especially as friends daughters seem to embark on very lengthy cross-country trips almost as soon as they'd passed...
wonderwoman
Posts: 511
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07 pm

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by wonderwoman »

Agree with Solimum - driving is a life skill, that whilst scary and expensive is another step to independence.
We live in a very rural area and almost all teenagers drive as soon as they can and it was the same when I was 17. I have already got my DC driving around the farm and friends bring their DC to start there too.

Am hoping test will be passed by summer next year.
hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by hermanmunster »

I agree with Solimum - important to get driving licence ASAP (when brain cells still very active :oops: ).

Interested in some insurance policies that have GPS boxes installed and charge extra if the car moves between 2300 and 0500...
Ally
Posts: 299
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:30 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by Ally »

Yes driving is a life skill, but by no means essential. How many people you live in cities either don't drive or don't own a car? Driving lessons, owning and ruining a car is still a luxury but very useful if you live in a more rural area

A DC will become more independent if they have to use public transport as student
Having worked with many newly graduated students, who have temped for me whilst looking for permanent roles. It might be a generalization, but I've found the non-driving graduates more savvy and organised as they have to plan their life around public transport and they always get into work on time!

Many student campuses are still inter city sites and will strongly discourage student cars, due to parking issues. I've been trying to think of a graduate job where a driving licence is essential, but I can't. It's an extra line/skill to put on their CV. Many employers will have increased respect a new graduate who is successful in passing their driving test once they've started work, because it shows it's something they've worked for, instead of the standard issue 18th birthday present.

I'm planning on putting driving lesson money aside for DS ready for when he's graduates/ starts work, he can use the money for driving lessons when relevant.
solimum
Posts: 1420
Joined: Wed May 09, 2007 3:09 pm
Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by solimum »

My DSs are both also pretty good with public transport, and have taken themselves around the country to various events on trains/ coaches/ buses / tubes frequently (with friends and alone) since age 13 or so. DS1 went around the world on his own, setting off on his 19th birthday! Neither has (or wants) a car of their own at university: mine has just been borrowed for the occasional luggage delivery trip (luckily both are about an hour distant so a feasible day trip). Obviously there are some parts of the country where a much higher proportion of the population can get around easily by bus/ tube/ train (I commute by bike/train myself) but some journeys are simply impossible (or fiendishly expensive anyway - have you bought any long distance train tickets recently, even with a railcard, if you don't know weeks in advance exactly when you will be travelling....)

Now if you lived in a very self-sufficient rural community like the fascinating Amish teenagers in the recent Channel 4 documentaries, I imagine you could get on quite well without driving any motorised transport - but that's probably not the life most of us have chosen for ourselves or our children... (wouldn't be here online to start with!)
wonderwoman
Posts: 511
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07 pm

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by wonderwoman »

[quote="Ally"]I've been trying to think of a graduate job where a driving licence is essential, but I can't. quote]

Farm manager, they all have degrees now. I would also think health visitors and midwives. Give me time and I'll think of more :)

Admittedly I do live in a rural area, but I couldn't get to work without my car, or getting a taxi everday - really I couldn't. My DC do use the very sparse public transport here and my you do have to be organised, if they miss the bus it's 1.5 hours til the next and it never ventures off the main road. They also cycle a lot.

Frankly can't wait for them to drive (if a little nervous about them venturing out), as I spend hours of every week getting them to friends, sports, things at school and now boyfriend who lives 10 miles away with no way of getting there on public transport.

Whatever the insurance I'm sure I'll save money.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12818
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by hermanmunster »

would be very tricky being a doctor without a driving licence. Training rotations are often at several hospitals, miles from home, GPs do home visits, locums work in all sorts of places, shifts end at odd times (just finished now 23.40 - could walk I suppose :roll:) , consultants have clinics in more than one hospital... etc etc
mummog
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: bucks

Re: Marmalade and Driving

Post by mummog »

We have insured our son with Collingwood's Learner Driver policy. He has had the usual course of driving lessons with an instructor but, for the last few weeks in the lead up to his test, we have insured him to drive our family car (volvo estate). They will insure for a month at a time at a cost of about £96 for the month - good value we thought. For the cost of about four one-hour lessons, he gets four weeks of unlimited driving.
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