Driving Before 17

[AlexOC]

Yo yo yo.

So i am 15, and in 2 years i will be able to drive, but i want to drive as soon possible, like not getting my license when im 18.

Is there anyway you can drive when your under 17 and without a license, like an under-17 driving school, then when its comes to your real lessons you can show them a certificate or something so you only have to take a few then you can do your tests. Or if i drove on private land before i was 17, then did really well and knew everything in my first few lessond could they just get me to take a test really early?

I have no idea how it works?

[Cashew]

No you'll still need to go through the legal procedures. I wouldn't even recommend driving on private land because you'll pick up some major bad habits before your test.

[AlexOC]

No you'll still need to go through the legal procedures. I wouldn't even recommend driving on private land because you'll pick up some major bad habits before your test.

Is there an hour limit, a minimum on how many real lessons you must take?

[Cashew]

Is there an hour limit, a minimum on how many real lessons you must take?
It varies. From what I can recall from friends one took ten lessons, another took twenty... it depends on how well you can remember things. I mean, if you look on the net you'll people getting away with as low as five.

It also goes down to the examiners pass rate. They can only pass a certain % per month.

[AlexOC]

It varies. From what I can recall from friends one took ten lessons, another took twenty... it depends on how well you can remember things. I mean, if you look on the net you'll people getting away with as low as five.

It also goes down to the examiners pass rate. They can only pass a certain % per month.

So surely if i learnt ****loads before i was 17, and drove a few times on private land i'd know pretty much anything, then i'd need about 5.

[Cashew]

So surely if i learnt ****loads before i was 17, and drove a few times on private land i'd know pretty much anything, then i'd need about 5.
Well not really because you could pick up some major bad habits which will fail you asap.

[Accipiter]

get yourself into a wheelchair / have a disability and you can learn when your 16, majour loss for a 1 year gain. all i can say is wait, you learn to drive 3 months before your 17 anyways and my 15/16 years flown over.

[AlexOC]

So i could pretty much do all my lessons in the 3 months before i am 17, then do the test on my 17 birthday?

[Accipiter]

no point really, you arn't allowed to officially drive until your 18.

so your better off filling a year up with driving lessons and learn the proper way.

You could try getting into some sort of work which offers to pay for your driving licence, i know some youth clubs offer them.

[Slowpoke]

You're best waiting, driving on private land with someone who isn't an instructor will see you picking up bad habits which will just get you heavily penalized on lessons and tests. It's horrible waiting but everyone has to do it! The average hours of professional tuition in the UK is 45 but I'm taking my test in a few weeks with about 24-26 hours.

[Grippz]

No you'll still need to go through the legal procedures. I wouldn't even recommend driving on private land because you'll pick up some major bad habits before your test.

Couldn't have said it better myself :-) You could however start saving up for your insurance :-). That's going to cost you $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[AlexOC]

Couldn't have said it better myself :-) You could however start saving up for your insurance :-). That's going to cost you $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Yeh how much is insurance?

Like a grand, 2?

[Sammeth.]

I went driving on private land a few times with my parents just to get used to driving before lessons. I passed first time before I turned 18 after 25 proper lessons, and trust me you can't just learn what you think you need to know on private land then just dive head first. You will need proper lessons, and most likely quite a few. What they can do is when you turn seventeen you can do one week and two week crash courses and then do your test, where you learn pretty much everything in those one or two weeks (they will be long sessions each day though) so it would probably best to do in a summer holiday or something like that. My insurance is just over 1k, however thats cus of the type of car I have and the fact the policy isnt my own. As you are a boy, a young one, it would be up to 2-3k.

[Grippz]

Yeh how much is insurance?

Like a grand, 2?

I got a quote... 5 n half thousand was the cheapest for me :)

You could also get one of those horrible little moped things at 16?? So if you really wanted to drive you could get one of those I guess! All you need to do is take some sort of test and have a provisional driving licence

[AlexOC]

5500! JESUS

Argh not one of those loud things.

[Grippz]

5500! JESUS

Argh not one of those loud things.

IKR i don't know what to do at the moment ;/ Im a full time student so i am unemployed lol, I can't exactly ask my parents for that amount of money ;-/

And yeah LOL i hate those stupid things!

[Sunny.]

I took a quote for a 1.4 GOLF
It was 1.5k with me as a named driver.

[AlexOC]

I took a quote for a 1.4 GOLF
It was 1.5k with me as a named driver.

Mmm is that decent?

[Sunny.]

Yh its gd imo, saying that im 17. First car.

[I havent passed yet, currently taking lessons]

[AlexOC]

What is it for that car, if you've been driving for like 3 cars, d'you reckon?

[Slowpoke]

I got a Ford Fiesta Lx, T reg, 1.3, spoiler, alloy wheels. I'm the car owner and all that crap and my insurance was only £803. I'm 17 and it's with Quinn Direct or something like that.

[AlexOC]

I got a Ford Fiesta Lx, T reg, 1.3, spoiler, alloy wheels. I'm the car owner and all that crap and my insurance was only £803. I'm 17 and it's with Quinn Direct or something like that.

That's good isn't it.

[Hecktix]

I got a Ford Fiesta Lx, T reg, 1.3, spoiler, alloy wheels. I'm the car owner and all that crap and my insurance was only £803. I'm 17 and it's with Quinn Direct or something like that.

That's not your own policy, surely? You must just be a named driver? (you can still be car owner)

And tbh Alex, you should just learn the official ways, the more responsive you are at learning the quicker you get to take your test.

Just to make it clear though, you cannot under any circumstances (unless you have a disability) drive a car on the roads before your 17th birthday.

[AlexOC]

That's not your own policy, surely? You must just be a named driver? (you can still be car owner)

And tbh Alex, you should just learn the official ways, the more responsive you are at learning the quicker you get to take your test.

Just to make it clear though, you cannot under any circumstances (unless you have a disability) drive a car on the roads before your 17th birthday.

Someone said earlier that you can start learning 3 months before your birthday.

[Hecktix]

Someone said earlier that you can start learning 3 months before your birthday.

They are wrong, you can apply for your provisional license three months before you are seventeen, but you cannot drive on the roads with it until you are seventeen.

[GoldenMerc]

To be fair you prob could apply and get your provisional and drive and the instructor woulnt realise, my instructor didnt even ask to see my licence

[AlexOC]

They are wrong, you can apply for your provisional license three months before you are seventeen, but you cannot drive on the roads with it until you are seventeen.

Ahh ok. i see. So on my 17th birthday i will have my provisional license so i can start lessons straight away?

[Hecktix]

Yep, that's why they let you apply for it before, so you can start driving immediately on your seventeenth birthday.

[AlexOC]

I see i see. Thanks. +Rep

[Slowpoke]

That's not your own policy, surely? You must just be a named driver? (you can still be car owner)

It's my own policy, I honestly don't know why it's so cheap. I have to pay another £107 when I pass my test.

[Hecktix]

Oh you're on a provisional, that's why.

[Slowpoke]

I only have to pay another £100 though when I pass.

[Grippz]

owot at your insurance?! wots going on lolol hmmmm im being ripped off :-(

[Slowpoke]

Most of my mates had to pay in between £1200-£1500 for their first year of insurance.

[tdi]

If people try to help, they should at least research what they are saying properly before they post.

You are not allowed to drive a car or a moped more than 50cc until you are 17. In some instances, you are allowed to drive from 16 if you are a carer for someone with a disability.. NOT if you are disabled yourself. You are also allowed to drive farm vehicles at 16, but I have no idea how this works, what the engine sizes etc are for this.. and I think you actually need to live on a farm.

You can apply for your driving license 3 months before your 16th birthday. You will recieve your plastic and counterpart license through the post but this WILL NOT allow you to drive a car at 16. This will allow you to drive a moped up to 50cc providing you pass your CBT. (You cannot legally drive until you have passed it.)
You can then drive a car as soon as you are 17, providing the vehicle you're driving is taxed and insured.

On the subject of insurance.. the cheapest way to get it is insure it in your parents name with you as a named driver. However, if you put your parent as the main driver, and you are the main user, this is classed as Insurance Fronting and can be classed as fraud. If you are found out, your insurance can be cancelled with immediate effect and if it becomes apparent at the scene of a crash, the insurance can be cancelled and treated as if it never existed.. You'll be legible to pay the fees yourself, and in extreme cases, can be done for no insurance.
If you are a named driver on the policy, you can not be the registered keeper of the vehicle, the named driver must be down as the registered keeper on the V5 (Registration Certificate) - it asks you to specify the registered keeper when applying for a policy.

For the record, my insurance is £1700 on a VW Bora 1.9 TDI PD 130.

[scott]

I got a Ford Fiesta Lx, T reg, 1.3, spoiler, alloy wheels. I'm the car owner and all that crap and my insurance was only £803. I'm 17 and it's with Quinn Direct or something like that.
That's who i've got my insurance with, it was just under £3000 though lol:P

And yh as others have said you're just best to wait till you're 17

[Black_Apalachi]

No there is no minimum requirement of lessons (yet) but as people have said, unless you want to pick up loads of bad habits then it's best to only spend a little bit of time on private land just to get the hang of actually operating the car.

I did this and I already had tons of bad habits just from watching my dad drive all my life. I ended up having about 20 lessons before I went away to uni then when I came home at Christmas time I think I crammed 10 into a week right before my test and passed first time.

I think the only thing you can do before you reach legal driving age, is get a moped but they're a major waste of money imo (then again, so is a car really :P).

As for insurance, mine was about £1200 which seemed great, but they essentially gave me 50 quid when I wrote off my car.. and I still have to see out the whole year of insurance (another 6 months) so it's a load of ********.