SA - Cheapest Way to Get P's and Be a Competent Driver

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  GG57 on 13/06/2018 - 11:14

  I understand the need / want to save money, but driving skills are soooo important (if they want to drive).

  I suggest getting a reliable driving instructor, someone that has a good 'connection' with your son in terms of listening, clear instructions, feedback, etc. This will minimise the number of formal lessons required as the lessons will be more productive.

  When the instructor is willing to say that your son's skills are to an acceptable level, do the rest of the necessary hours with family / friends. The challenge is to keep it professional for this as well. For example, we refused to allow the radio / CD etc., during the lessons.

  The value will be in your son being a good driver for years and years.

  Good luck.

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  thetrain on 13/06/2018 - 11:49

  Getting Ps and being a competent driver are completely different things.

  Ps is a matter of passing the driving test so an instructor will know the test routes and point out things they look for (eg. headchecks, indicator).

  Being competent is about your driving attitude, situational awareness and anticipation of hazards and other peoples mistakes as well as vehicle dynamics.

  For competence I recommend a defensive driving course (and further driver training) once he has passed his Ps.
  I also recommend reading 'Roadcraft: The Police Driver's Handbook' which covers theory and best practice of safe driving (which isn't the same as slow driving).

  Also he'll continue to learn as he gains more experience driving for many years after Ps.

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    bry-bry on 13/06/2018 - 12:01

    AAMI used to do a free driving course for under 25's which was REALLY good. Also, I got my motorcycle license a few years after and found THAT incredibly helpful too. Gave me a new respect and understanding of how motorcyclists approach the road. I would advocate for everyone doing a motorcycle Ls test … it was(at least through Honda when i did it) sooooo informative and helpful even as a primarily car driver.

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  bry-bry on 13/06/2018 - 11:52

  +1

  The way i got my license was pretty cheap. Only ended up paying for about 4 lessons in total.

  My folks gave me the opportunity to drive whenever i could. That didn't cost anything really. Short trips to shops, driving on holidays, no matter the time or weather… a couple of nights a week we would just take the car out for 15-30 mins just to practice. One of the best things mum did, though, was that i would catch a train to mum's work after school several days a week. By the time I got there it was almost home time and then I'd drive home. I learnt a lot during these trips, let me spend time with mum (may not be a 17 y.o. fave thing), and on her end she didn't have to sit through an hour and a half of peak hour traffic alone. After many months of this i had learnt road craft - how to read the road, control the car, anticipate drivers and pedestrians, parking… some rules etc. All this was in an AUTOMATIC.
  When i was confident enough in being able to drive - that is, i wasn't being constantly told what to do etc, it was THEN that i had about 3 or 4 classes with an instructer in a manual car for the last month in anticipation for taking the Ps test. He may not even need that many as he has access to a manual car which i did not at the time. The instructor did tweak my roadcraft a bit which was good, but for the most part I just mainly learned how to use a manual car (one of the MOST useful things was the first 15 mins of the first lesson sitting in the driveway where he actually explained the mechanics of how the gears/clutch work). I found it REALLY beneficial that i had a good grounding on everything else already before having to throw in the somewhat complicated art of changing gears and clutching.
  I passed my license test first time with flying colours and recommend this learning style to EVERYONE wanting to learn manual as i think it is safer for everyone. The only thing i might add is maybe a 'professional' right at the start when the learning curve is the steepest. I do remember mum getting frustrated at me, and me getting frustrated back the first few times and feel that could have been avoided if i had just 1 or maybe 2 introductory lessons… i knew very little about cars short of playing Need For Speed with a controller.

  In terms of saving money, the instructor booked the license test for me and was in the back of the car at the time. That was the most expensive part actually - he charged more to sit there and do nothing for 20 mins than he did for the 1 hour lessons. I later found out i could have booked it myself and had anyone or noone in the back. The instructor said the license testers are a bit less nervous and maybe more leniant when the instructor is also in the car… so there's that.

  Note: I'm in Vic, got my license 15 years ago, and don't know if Vic, let alone SA rules would allow this now though i assume it would be similar.

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  HighAndDry on 13/06/2018 - 12:13

  Not in SA so unfortunately can't help, but just wanted to say kudos for:

  We have a small manual car that he is currently using, as we firmly believe that he should know how to drive a manual.

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  pjetson on 13/06/2018 - 12:18

  +1

  Your son just needs to spend as much time driving as he can, in a variety of situations. There's no shortcut to competency.

  He doesn't need a professional driving instructor all the time, but he would definitely benefit from some professional lessons and guidance.

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  Ughhh on 13/06/2018 - 12:20

  +1

  Just let him drive whenever possible. Do a log book test. If you take shortcuts and cheap out, you'll take a shortcut to the coffin too.

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  Quantumcat on 13/06/2018 - 19:23

  As others have said, have him drive everywhere you go as a family. The more he drives the better. Have at least 1 or 2 lessons where the instructor can fix anything that he is doing wrong and take him around the test circuit a couple of times so he knows all the tricky parts to be careful of.