Driving before you are 17
Before you can drive on the road, you need to be 17 years old and hold a provisional or full driving licence. You can drive on private land before you are 17, and this is a great way to get some experience of driving a car without the pressure of having other cars or obstacles close to you. Drive B4 U Turn 17 is a company that arranges under 17s driver training courses designed to give young people a basic knowledge of driving before taking to the roads which will build their confidence and road awareness and make them better equipped to deal with oncoming traffic situations. I believe that by introducing driver education at an earlier age, young people will also become safer as pedestrians/cyclists/motorcyclists. If you're aged between 10 and 17 years, have a look at their website at http://www.driveb4uturn17.co.uk/.
Your provisional licence
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Before you can drive on the road, you need to be 17 years old and hold a provisional driving licence. Your driving instructor will need to see this before you can drive on the road. You can apply for your provisional driving licence from the DVLA as soon as you are 15 years and 9 months old (this is because you can start riding a moped from the age of 16).
To apply for a provisional driving licence visit the GOV.UK website at : https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence Learning to driveWith your provisional driving licence, your driving instructor can teach you to drive! See our lessons page for more information about how we can help you with this.
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With your provisional driving licence, you can drive any car that you are insured to drive, so long as you are accompanied by a driver who is aged over 21 years and has held a full licence for the vehicle for over 3 years. You'll also need to display 'L' plates (you can get penalty points on your driving licence if you don't display the correct 'L' plates). You can't drive on motorways though. For full information, check the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/driving-before-you-have-full-licence.
It is very valuable to get as much driving practice as possible before you take your driving tests, but if you're unsure about any aspect of your driving, you should ask your driving instructor. Other drivers may have held their driving licences for many years, but the driving test changes regularly, and it is important to make sure that you're learning to drive the right way to pass your test and not picking up any bad habits!
It is very valuable to get as much driving practice as possible before you take your driving tests, but if you're unsure about any aspect of your driving, you should ask your driving instructor. Other drivers may have held their driving licences for many years, but the driving test changes regularly, and it is important to make sure that you're learning to drive the right way to pass your test and not picking up any bad habits!
The driving tests
To obtain a full driving licence, you need to pass two driving tests - a theory test and a practical driving test. You can apply to do these tests as soon as you feel ready. If you're not sure whether you're ready, we can advise you. Our Driving Test page covers some of the help with can give you in preparation for your driving test.
The theory test can be booked through the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/book-theory-test. It must be taken and passed before you can take the practical driving test.
You can also practice your theory test on the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/practise-your-driving-theory-test.
Once you have passed your theory test, you can prepare for your practical driving test, which can also be booked through the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/book-driving-test
If the driving examiner feels you have reached the right standard for a full driving licence, you will be told that you have passed your test! Congratulations! You can now throw away the 'L' plates (replace them with 'P' plates if you like) and apply for your full driving licence.
However, now that you have passed your test, you will be considered the biggest risk on the road by the insurance companies.
The theory test can be booked through the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/book-theory-test. It must be taken and passed before you can take the practical driving test.
You can also practice your theory test on the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/practise-your-driving-theory-test.
Once you have passed your theory test, you can prepare for your practical driving test, which can also be booked through the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/book-driving-test
If the driving examiner feels you have reached the right standard for a full driving licence, you will be told that you have passed your test! Congratulations! You can now throw away the 'L' plates (replace them with 'P' plates if you like) and apply for your full driving licence.
However, now that you have passed your test, you will be considered the biggest risk on the road by the insurance companies.
Your first car
With your driving licence, you are free to buy your first car. You can buy and own a car before you have a full licence, but you cannot drive it. To drive a car on the road, you must have insurance and (if it's not your car) the owner's permission. The car must be roadworthy, have a valid MOT certificate (if more than 3 years old), be taxed and insured in its own right (you cannot drive an uninsured vehicle on the road, even if your insurance allows you to drive another vehicle).
We would recommend that you consider your first car very carefully. Every car is given an 'insurance group', which is a rating of how the insurance company perceives the likelihood of the car being involved in an accident and the cost of repairing the car. The higher the insurance group, the more expensive the insurance premium. You'll also be expensive to insure as you won't have much driving experience, and insurance companies will perceive you as being at a high risk of making a claim.
There are things you can do to reduce your premium, such as agreeing not to drive at night. It's also tempting to be a named driver on someone else's policy, but you won't usually build up a No Claims Discount (NCD) this way and you mustn't be the main driver of the car.
We would recommend that you consider your first car very carefully. Every car is given an 'insurance group', which is a rating of how the insurance company perceives the likelihood of the car being involved in an accident and the cost of repairing the car. The higher the insurance group, the more expensive the insurance premium. You'll also be expensive to insure as you won't have much driving experience, and insurance companies will perceive you as being at a high risk of making a claim.
There are things you can do to reduce your premium, such as agreeing not to drive at night. It's also tempting to be a named driver on someone else's policy, but you won't usually build up a No Claims Discount (NCD) this way and you mustn't be the main driver of the car.
Cheapest to insure
You can find a list of the cheapest cars to insure at the following websites :
It's worth shopping around different insurance companies to get the best price. You may be able to reduce the premium by agreeing to a larger excess (the amount of the claim which you will have to pay first), and for going for an older car (although cars more than 10 years old may actually be more expensive to insure). It's also worth being aware that if you automatically renew your insurance at the end of the first year, your insurance company may increase your premium (they like to keep their best prices for new customers!) so shop around again. The more years of accident free driving you have, the cheaper your premiums will become
- Parkers - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/insurance/car-insurance-groups/?ig=1
- Auto Express - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars/insurance-policy/85261/cheapest-cars-insure
- Honest John - http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/insurance/top-25-lowest-insurance-group-cars/
It's worth shopping around different insurance companies to get the best price. You may be able to reduce the premium by agreeing to a larger excess (the amount of the claim which you will have to pay first), and for going for an older car (although cars more than 10 years old may actually be more expensive to insure). It's also worth being aware that if you automatically renew your insurance at the end of the first year, your insurance company may increase your premium (they like to keep their best prices for new customers!) so shop around again. The more years of accident free driving you have, the cheaper your premiums will become
Other things to remember
When you get behind the wheel of a car, you are in control of a powerful machine. Driving beyond your capabilities or the capabilities of the vehicle will result in an accident which could injure or kill you or others.
- Do not drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs - you may feel you can, but that is the alcohol or drugs giving you the increased confidence. Your reactions will be affected (and will remain so the morning after).
- Do not exceed the speed limits - they are there for a reason, whether you can see it or not.
- The speed limits are a maximum, not a minimum - slow down if the road conditions are dangerous, such as at night, when it is wet or icy.
- Expect the unexpected - never assume that another driver or a pedestrian will do something (e.g. turning because they are indicating - they may have left their indicator on by mistake)
- Your driving licence is a privilege, not a right - it can be taken away from you far easier than it was obtained.
