Parents '˜petrified' of supervising learners

Insurer and car provider Marmalade has found that 43 per cent of parents aren’t confident about helping out with extra driving practice.

Crispin Moger, CEO at Marmalade, said: “The more driving experience a learner can get the better. It gets them used to being on the road at different times of day, with different people in the car and in situations they might not have come across in their lessons – with a parent there to guide them.”

Official guidelines for learner drivers advising them to supplement professional driving lessons with private practice. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recommends that learner drivers go out for roughly 22 hours of private lessons alongside those with a professional driving instructor.

A recent Twitter poll from Marmalade asked parents how confident they felt when taking their children out for driving lessons, 43 per cent of respondents identified as ‘petrified’ and another 25 per cent identified as ‘somewhat nervous’.

Marmalade believes there is cause for concern if only 34 per cent of parents are ‘very confident’ or ‘moderately confident’ about taking their children out for a drive.

Shelby Haslam, is the mum of Marmalade ambassador and learner driver Kitty. She said: “I try my best to be calm, to let Kitty get on with the driving and not to panic, but my knuckles are white and my foot is jammed firmly to the floor.

“It’s the parent’s curse of constantly imagining all the worst things that can happen and feeling powerless to do anything about them.”

Shelby has written a blog about her experiences. Shelby said: “I’ve never been a good passenger and, much as I trust Kitty to be careful, I have to say it’s been a stressful experience.”

See www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/blog/white-knuckle-ride-taking-your-learner-driving for more information.