Dads ‘make the best driving instructors’
Young adults are four times more likely to pass their driving test with dad than a professional instructor, new research claims.
Ahead of Father’s Day on June 17, a study by leading dash cam manufacturer, Nextbase, reveals 50% of the nation’s dads have endured hours of time teaching their children how to drive safely on the roads – the greatest test of patience.
Two out of five doting dads (41%) choose to teach their children to drive because they believed it would make them feel more comfortable, while 35% admitted it was because it’s cheaper than a professional driving instructor.
However, although dads are evidently up for the challenge, results show that it may have taken its toll on some of them. A fifth of fathers (18%) say they wouldn’t teach their sons and daughters to drive if they could go back in time.
The top reasons were that it was too stressful (61%), arguments (38%) and offspring not listening to instructions (27%).
“I think we need to give dads credit where it’s due, especially as our study reveals that it obviously isn’t easy teaching your kids behind the wheel,” said Richard Browning of Nextbase.
Cautionary note
Another piece of research, commissioned in 2016 by Young Driver, the provider of pre-17 driving tuition, revealed that many mums and dads show a worrying lack of knowledge of basic driving best practice, with one in five not even sure they’d pass their own test if they took it again.
One in four parents (27%) admitted they’d picked up bad habits and forgotten what they were taught, while many more were still clinging to outdated advice to pass on to their own children.
Mirror, signal, manoeuvre – more than a third of parents (39%) have forgotten this basic rule, despite it being the cornerstone of good driving. Also, one in two (47%) forgot to teach their children about the importance of checking dangerous blind spots.
Hand position – despite many of us being taught that hands should be kept on the steering wheel at the 10 to 2 position, that advice has been revised over recent years. It is now recommended that hands are in the quarter to three position, to maintain control and to prevent a serious injury should a steering wheel airbag deploy. Some 46%t of parents admitted to insisting their youngsters used the original 10 and 2 placement they’d been taught in the pre-airbag era.
Braking – One in two parents (45%) would insist the handbrake was applied whenever the car stopped. However, the purpose of the ‘parking brake’ is to secure the car when it’s stationary on a hill, or stopping on the flat for more than a few seconds. Stopping at a junction on the flat, the handbrake may not always be needed.