The 10 worst habits picked up by learner drivers from their parents

Only 13% of parents think they’re a consistently good role model to their children when it comes to motoring skills, according to a new survey of over 2,270 parents.

The research, which was conducted by the UK’s largest pre-17 driving school Young Driver, has prompted the organisation to launch a special driving lesson for parents who want to refresh their knowledge and make sure bad habits haven’t slipped in. Parents are also welcome to sit in the back of their child’s Young Driver lesson to observe the teaching from the qualified driving instructors, with the scheme having delivered 1.4 million lessons to youngsters aged from 10-17.

Lance Peake is a team manager at Young Driver, and has been a driving instructor for over 15 years. He explains: “From a young age children are observing their parents behind the wheel. Parents often realise they need to be on best driving behaviour when their child hits 17, but there’s been many years before that when they’ve quietly been watching. Things like using your palm to control the steering wheel, being distracted by a phone, speeding, tailgating – they can all become normalised, even just on the school run.

“As an instructor, spending half an hour with a parent on a Young Driver course and observing their driving technique can help us easily identify any potential problems – and it also naturally makes the parent more aware of any bad habits. But even if they sit in the back of a Young Driver lesson with their child, they’ll pick up some great tips from the instructor and see more clearly  how kids are taught nowadays. You can start talking to your child about driving from a young age, explaining the gears and the pedals, and it can be very helpful for when they first get behind the wheel. But it’s important to be demonstrating the right habits to them from an early age too.”

Young Driver surveyed 150 of the driving instructors who work with the scheme, and asked them about the worst habits learners pick up from their parents.

The 10 worst habits picked up by learner drivers from their parents are:

1. Not following ‘mirror, signal, manoeuvre’ as a matter of course.
2. Steering with one hand (palm) or crossing hands. (Neither will fail you your test as a one off, but it isn’t best practice to do them regularly as you have less control.)
3. Not observing what is happening around them.
4. Coasting.
5. Speeding.
6. Coming down through individual gears instead of block changing.
7. Not creeping and peeping when exiting a junction.
8. Riding the clutch.
9. Impatience/aggression.
10. Believing myths or out of date driving styles.

A normal 30 or 60 minute lesson can be booked on www.youngdriver.com, adding into the notes section that this would be for a parent refresh lesson. Alternatively it can be booked on the phone by calling 0333 577 9010. One adult is also welcome to sit in the back of a standard Young Driver lesson, when attending with a young person.

At Young Driver children as young as 10 can learn to drive in dual control cars, with government approved instructors. They learn the basics of changing gear, steering and controlling the vehicle at over 70 private venues across the country. Over 1.4 million lessons have been given since the scheme launched in 2009, and research shows early driver tuition can dramatically reduce the accident rate for newly qualified drivers.