If you are a learner driver and either have a car, or know someone who’s willing to let you use theirs, it could be useful to practice with between your driving lessons.

First of all the rules:

1. You must display L-Plates clearly front and back.
2. You must have a valid signed provisional licence.
3. The car must be roadworthy, legal and insured for you to drive.
4. You must be supervised. This person must be over 21 and have held a licence for at least 3 years, and sit in a position where they could control the car if needed (front passenger seat is the sensible choice)

So, now you’re out on the road, you need to remember a few things. The person sat next to you has very little control over the car, which means you’ve got to be confident that you can stop the car in an emergency. Also, your supervising driver is not a driving instructor, so be careful if they are telling you to do things that go against what you have been taught.

This can be the tricky part, but a bit of diplomacy can help here. Best to choose the person carefully. They need to be fairly relaxed. What you don’t want is them grabbing for the wheel every time you go round a parked car. If you don’t feel comfortable with the person who’s supervising you, either ask someone else, or best not to go out at all.

Private practice can help many people with learning to drive, but it can also get you into bad habits, and make you less confident if something happens that you can’t deal with.

If your not sure, get some advice from your driving instructor.