Should I Record Logbook Hours With My Parents Or An Instructor?

DRIVING WITH YOUR PARENTS AND DRIVING WITH AN INSTRUCTOR MIGHT SEEM TO BE THE SAME BUT HAVE MANY DIFFERENCES.

You’re a beginner at driving and want to learn how to drive a new car. Or maybe you just want to pass your driving test so you can finally drive without supervision.
But you need to do a total of 120 logbook hours to be permitted to take the driving test. You’re going to need someone to teach you.
The two most popular supervisors that people use are parents and instructors. We’re going to be looking at the differences between the two.

Driving With Parents

There are several benefits to driving with parents. You might feel more comfortable with them and the option might be more flexible to your schedule.
But the main benefit of driving with parents is cost. Driving instructors cost money and it seems like a perfect way to save money to drive with your parents.
Of course, there are issues with learning to drive with parents. Your parents weren’t formally taught the road rules and might not be up to date with traffic laws.
They might intuitively know how to drive, but teaching it is a whole other story.
We found that parents have a good chance of passing on bad driving habits onto their children.
The British School of Motoring found that the top 5 of these habits were:

• Forgetting to check mirrors
• Crossing hands while steering
• Speeding
• Tailgating too close
• Answering phones while driving

On top of this, we found that parents were less rational and overprotective of their children. It’s common for learners to mention that they experience yelling with their parents and that it caused the driving experience to be scary and uncomfortable.
Despite this, parents still have their place in teaching driving — especially if you’ve already logged some hours with an instructor and have become a better driver.

Driving With An Instructor

Naturally, at LTrent we recommend using a driving instructor to do as many hours as possible.
LTrent’s students have a 28% higher chance of passing the driving test than the NSW average. This is achieved by learning the Trent Method and passing the Trent On Road Test.
The first reason to use a driving instructor is that you’re able to get 3 hours for every hour with a driving instructor — capping at 30 logbook hours or 10 hours of driving.
This is extremely time efficient as it’ll save you 20 hours of driving than if you did all your hours with your parents. Not only that, you’re guaranteed to get an instructor that not only cares about helping you pass your driving test but helping you become a safer driver.
After all, that’s why our students are so successful.
In general, driving with an instructor has many benefits beyond helping you get your logbook hours up.
Instructors teach driving for a living. They’re well-versed in every single mistake that a learner can make, they’re up to date with all the road rules and traffic laws and they know how they can transfer their knowledge onto you because they’ve done it more than just a few times.
Beyond this, driving instructors are able to remain impartial in their judgement and you surely won’t have them yelling at you for making mistakes and are guaranteed a calmer experience.
Book your lesson with us today!

Check out our other blogs
Why Your Night Driving Logbook Hours Are Important
4 Tips To Quickly Get Your Logbook Hours Up
Why You Shouldn’t You Fake Your Logbook Hours?