The road to success - Quentin Willson offers parents and teens advice on learning to drive without the tantrums and tears

In 2018/19 there were 1.66 million practical driving tests taken in the UK – but less than half resulted in a pass (762,000). More than half of young drivers (54 per cent) are given lessons behind the wheel by their parents – but those parents freely admit their skills aren’t up to scratch, with 47 per cent forgetting to mention things as important as the need to check blind spots. With one in five new drivers having an accident within six months of passing their test, are they getting the experience and support they need?

Motoring expert Quentin Willson was so concerned about the low driving test pass rate and high accident levels for new drivers he has written a guide for both parents and teens. ‘Learn to Drive without Tears and Tantrums’ aims to help improve the effectiveness of parent tuition and also manage the often difficult and confusing relationship between learner, ADI instructor and mum and dad.  

Well-intentioned parents can give conflicting messages that can confuse the learner and make the ADI’s job harder. Most parents passed their driving test decades ago and admit they haven’t looked at a driving manual or Highway Code since - and far too many have never sat in the back seat during an ADI lesson. 

This book aims to take the stress, angst and inconsistency of teaching methods out of the parent-learner driving relationship and make everybody’s journey to the driving test less scary. Written in an easy-to-read style with a light tone, Learn to Drive Without Tears and Tantrums is published by Young Driver, the world’s largest provider of under 17 driving lessons. Operating at 65 locations across the UK and with 740,000 lessons already taught, the book uses the research and experience gained from those three-quarter-of-a-million lessons. Heavily illustrated with 136 full colour pages this is an essential read for all parents and teens embarking on the road to driving test success. 

Quentin Willson said: “Although parents often have great nostalgia around learning to drive, the reality when they get behind the wheel with their child can be arguments, stress and tears. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Together parent, child and ADI can make a really strong team during the learning to drive journey, leading to the best possible outcome in terms of creating a safe, confident and skilled driver. And that’s good news for all road users.”

The book helps readers learn how:

• parental tuition can work in tandem with professional lessons to create the best outcome – the safest driver;
• to avoid family fall outs and drama behind the wheel;
• to instil vital, life-saving advice into the learning to drive process; and
• to ensure your driving knowledge is up-to-date and fit for purpose.

The book is available at www.youngdriver.com priced at £9.99