Gotta start 'em young: learning to drive at 10 years old

Schemes to get youngsters safely behind the wheel are helping to cement the car’s place in our future society

Flynn can’t believe his luck. Autocar’s photographer needs a picture of the 12-year-old at the wheel of the Vauxhall Corsa as he steers it around the driving route laid out at Kempton Park Racecourse in Sunbury, Surrey.

The thing is, the lad has only just returned from doing the same thing – a gift from his dad, Steve, who bought the 30-minute driving experience offered by Young Driver, an organisation that offers 10-to-17-year-olds their first taste of driving in a dual-control car. In the company of a qualified instructor, Flynn and his fellow youngsters follow a route on a closed circuit marked out with cones and road signs and which, depending on the venue (there are 70 across the UK) might also feature a hill start and other technical challenges.

Flynn returned from his first drive cock-a-hoop at the experience – “I got the car to 26mph in third gear and did an emergency stop!” – and now he’s being offered another go, which, frankly, has stunned him.

I’ve dropped by Kempton Park this hot Saturday morning to see a Young Driver experience for myself and to find out, against a backdrop of conflicting attitudes towards the car, what today’s youngsters – the drivers of tomorrow – think about this mode of transport and, crucially, its future. Obviously, the many youngsters who, over the course of the day, will guide Young Driver’s 17 Corsas around Kempton Park are already sold on driving, but even so, their views are bound to be nuanced. I’m expecting to hear Greta Thunberg’s name mentioned…

By the time the youngest drivers at today’s event begin their driving lessons on the road at 17, the current drift to EVs will have gathered pace and their instructor’s car could very well be an electric model with an automatic gearbox. That’s fine if mum and dad can afford to furnish them with a new or used EV when they pass their test, but most will have to make sure they learn in a manual car to take advantage of the many thousands of used petrol models that will still be around at lower prices. They can always step up to an EV later.

Not that Flynn is thinking EV. “My favourite cars are the Mazda RX-7 and the Koenigsegg Agera RS,” he says. “I like the old petrol cars with their big engines, but I think that when I pass my test [in 2025 at the earliest], around 50% of new cars will be hybrid or electric, so I had better get used to the fact that when I’m older, I’ll be driving one.” His acceptance is borne out by the 2020 RAC Report on Motoring, which found that people aged 17 to 24 are almost twice as likely to consider buying a pure EV than older drivers.

Apparently, the same age group is also more concerned about the environment than older drivers. On that point, as Flynn heads off for his second spin of the day, I spy 13-year-old twins Immie and Issie returning from their half-hour drives. How do they square concern for the environment with driving a metal box on already congested roads? A certain Swedish activist’s name is quickly forthcoming…

“I think what Greta Thunberg says about our responsibility to the environment and making greener choices is right,” says Immie. “She hasn’t put me off the car or driving, though. Electric cars are the answer.”

This is a view shared by the other youngsters I speak to. They’re concerned about vehicle emissions, but rather than sacrificing the car on the altar of the environment, they see EVs as the solution. We don’t go into the areas of displacing emissions, of mining scarce resources and of charging when you have no driveway; those are topics for another day. For now, they just want to drive. But why?

“Because driving brings practical benefits,” says Ruby, 16. She’s the twins’ older sister and looking forward to getting her provisional licence. “I’m aware of the environmental concerns around cars, but for everyone of my age, a car represents freedom. Where we live, public transport isn’t good. For example, it takes me three buses to get from home to my friends on the other side of Kingston. Having a car will mean I can visit them more easily and get a Saturday job, too.”

She’s only 13, but Lucy, waiting for her drive, agrees: “I’ve got a few years to wait, but I know that having a car will be important for work and for my social life. Also, although I’m still young, Covid has made me worry about using buses and trains. I’d prefer to drive when I’m able to.”

Lucy has put her finger on something here. Again according to the RAC report, the majority of motorists surveyed (52%) said they plan to make less use of public transport as a result of the pandemic. Worryingly for operators, for the first time since 2002, fewer than half of drivers (43%) said they would use their car less if public transport were improved. How much this influences future drivers is anyone’s guess, but Lucy is already thinking she would rather take the car than risk a bus.

All of the youngsters returning from their half or one-hour-long drives around the winding Kempton Park course say how much fun the experience was. Typical of the replies was Issie’s: “I had an instructor telling me what to do, but even so, I really felt like I was driving and that I was in control of the car.”

It’s this aspect of driving that really appeals to the youngsters, so what do they think of self-driving cars, where all they will have to do is turn up and enjoy the ride? Lucy isn’t convinced: “They aren’t a good idea, because I don’t think they will be able to do everything we can do.” Ruby is equally unimpressed: “I would be scared if the car were driving itself. I like to be in control.”

Control, freedom and fun: three words that sum up the experience of driving for the youngsters at Young Driver. They and the world may face uncertain times ahead, but while the car continues to tick these particular boxes, its future seems assured.

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