Latest news with #learnerdriver
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How much does it cost to become a driver in the UK?
It's 90 years since the driving test became compulsory in the UK. Back then it cost just 37.5p to sit the test, and around two thirds of people passed. Now it costs £23 for the theory test, £62 for a practical test on a weekday and £75 at the weekend — and fewer than half of people pass. But the cost of multiple tests is far from the only cost of getting on the road. It starts pretty cheaply, with £34 for the provisional licence, but then the costs start mounting. On average you need 45 hours of driving lessons and 22 hours of practice before you're prepared for your practical test. Assuming you know somebody who is prepared to take you out, 45 hours of lessons at a typical cost of £45 will set you back £2,025. If you need more lessons or they're pricier in your area, it'll cost even more than that. Once you've passed, you need to buy the car. On average people's first cars cost £5,500. Then there's insurance — the cheapest models can be covered for about £1,500, but beware, because you can easily find yourself facing a bill of around £2,500 for something that doesn't feel particularly fast or risky. Read more: How getting ahead on your tax return can help cut your tax bill Add on £195 for the standard rate of car tax, and before you've driven a single mile — and accounted for petrol, servicing and the MOT — it will have set you back £10,352. It means you need to consider how to cut the costs. These are in such high demand that there's not much haggling to be had, but check whether you can get a discount for block bookings. It's also worth considering the balance of official lessons and private practice. If you have a friend or relative who is a calm and confident driver, they may be prepared to take you out more in order to save on lessons. There are a variety of techniques that can help you negotiate a good deal when buying a second-hand car. Research the going rate before you start, so you know what's reasonable. Check the car's condition — if there are dings and scratches you can use this as leverage for a lower cost. Consider the deal you'll accept, and be prepared to walk away if they won't go low enough. If you get within touching distance of what you consider to be fair, you can ask for them to throw in a service or MOT to make up the difference. Picking the right car is key, so take the time to check what it'll cost to insure before you buy. There's no point picking up a bargain that costs thousands of pounds extra every year in insurance. Check if you can save money by adding a second named driver. This is very different from insuring it in someone else's name and adding yourself second — that's called fronting and is illegal. Putting an older and more experienced person on the insurance as a second driver can still shave hundreds or even thousands of pounds off the cost. Including it in a multi-car policy with other reliable drivers in the same household can also help. You could also consider a telematics policy, where you have a "black box" in the car monitoring your driving. If you drive carefully at safer times of day this can lower your costs — although riskier driving could see your premiums rise significantly — and you could even have the policy more: Real cost of a 2025 summer holiday as families priced out or fined How to tell if you're rich Who wears the financial trousers in your relationship?Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How much does it cost to become a driver in the UK?
It's 90 years since the driving test became compulsory in the UK. Back then it cost just 37.5p to sit the test, and around two thirds of people passed. Now it costs £23 for the theory test, £62 for a practical test on a weekday and £75 at the weekend — and fewer than half of people pass. But the cost of multiple tests is far from the only cost of getting on the road. It starts pretty cheaply, with £34 for the provisional licence, but then the costs start mounting. On average you need 45 hours of driving lessons and 22 hours of practice before you're prepared for your practical test. Assuming you know somebody who is prepared to take you out, 45 hours of lessons at a typical cost of £45 will set you back £2,025. If you need more lessons or they're pricier in your area, it'll cost even more than that. Once you've passed, you need to buy the car. On average people's first cars cost £5,500. Then there's insurance — the cheapest models can be covered for about £1,500, but beware, because you can easily find yourself facing a bill of around £2,500 for something that doesn't feel particularly fast or risky. Read more: How getting ahead on your tax return can help cut your tax bill Add on £195 for the standard rate of car tax, and before you've driven a single mile — and accounted for petrol, servicing and the MOT — it will have set you back £10,352. It means you need to consider how to cut the costs. These are in such high demand that there's not much haggling to be had, but check whether you can get a discount for block bookings. It's also worth considering the balance of official lessons and private practice. If you have a friend or relative who is a calm and confident driver, they may be prepared to take you out more in order to save on lessons. There are a variety of techniques that can help you negotiate a good deal when buying a second-hand car. Research the going rate before you start, so you know what's reasonable. Check the car's condition — if there are dings and scratches you can use this as leverage for a lower cost. Consider the deal you'll accept, and be prepared to walk away if they won't go low enough. If you get within touching distance of what you consider to be fair, you can ask for them to throw in a service or MOT to make up the difference. Picking the right car is key, so take the time to check what it'll cost to insure before you buy. There's no point picking up a bargain that costs thousands of pounds extra every year in insurance. Check if you can save money by adding a second named driver. This is very different from insuring it in someone else's name and adding yourself second — that's called fronting and is illegal. Putting an older and more experienced person on the insurance as a second driver can still shave hundreds or even thousands of pounds off the cost. Including it in a multi-car policy with other reliable drivers in the same household can also help. You could also consider a telematics policy, where you have a "black box" in the car monitoring your driving. If you drive carefully at safer times of day this can lower your costs — although riskier driving could see your premiums rise significantly — and you could even have the policy more: Real cost of a 2025 summer holiday as families priced out or fined How to tell if you're rich Who wears the financial trousers in your relationship?Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fox News
28-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
Father dies in tragic accident while teaching teen daughter to drive
Print Close By Rachel Wolf Published May 28, 2025 A 64-year-old California man was killed while teaching his teen daughter to drive, the Laguna Beach Police Department (LBPD) confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday. LBPD also told Fox News Digital that the 15-year-old had a learner's permit. The fatal crash took place late Monday afternoon on the Golden State's Coast Highway. James Politoski was the only passenger in the vehicle, according to Fox 11, a Fox News affiliate. LOS ANGELES TOUR BUS CRASH LEAVES 1 DEAD, 32 HOSPITALIZED ON MOTHER'S DAY The teen girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, "sustained significant injuries," according to LBPD. She is expected to survive. The vehicle reportedly broke through a fence barrier before rolling down an embankment and flipping upside down onto the highway, according to Fox 11. DRIVER SUDDENLY STOPS IN MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY, CAUSES MULTI-CAR CRASH, THEN LEAVES: VIDEO "This is a heartbreaking situation that not only impacts the immediate families involved but also deeply affects our entire community," LBPD's Lieutenant Jesse Schmidt told Fox News Digital. "It is always difficult when an accident leads to the loss of life—especially under circumstances where a parent was simply trying to do the right thing by teaching their child a valuable life skill." Schmidt also expressed the department's condolences to the family and friends of Politoski. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Print Close URL
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Teen learning how to drive accidentally kills relative by plunging off cliff in California during lesson
A teenager learning how to drive accidentally sped off a 40-foot cliff during a driving lesson in California and killed the male relative who was teaching her. The student driver was behind the wheel of a teal coupe when the crash occurred at around 4.10pm on Monday. Dramatic images showed the vehicle on its roof at the bottom of a steep embankment. Rescue crews in Laguna Beach were dispatched and found the car upside down on the South Coast Highway between Wesley and Montage Resort Drive. A preliminary investigation found that the vehicle was being operated by a young driver with a learner's permit, according to a press release by the Laguna Beach Police Department. She had been driving in the upper parking lot of Gelson's Market, a shuttered grocery store. The young driver went straight through a small wooden barrier at the edge of the parking lot, causing the car to careen down an approximately 40-foot embankment. The adult male passenger, who CBS first reported was related to the driver, was found dead at the scene. The teenager had 'significant injuries' and was transported to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo for treatment. Police said she is expected to survive. The identities of and the relationship between the teenage driver and the deceased adult male family member have not been disclosed by authorities. The teen appeared to be driving a Volkswagen Beetle at the time of the crash. In one angle, the classic VW logo appeared to be visible on the rear of the car, which was facing the highway. 'The cause of the collision remains under investigation. Additional details will be released as they become available,' the police department said. 'The Laguna Beach Police Department extends its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones affected by this tragic incident,' it added.
Telegraph
18-05-2025
- Telegraph
Learner driver flees after killing woman in head-on crash
An uninsured learner driver was filmed running away after killing a woman in a head-on crash. Khizer Ali, 24, crashed his mother's car into Valerie Ayres, 65, and her 70-year-old husband David's vehicle as the couple were driving to go shopping. Dashcam footage shows Ali speeding at 59mph in a 40mph zone moments before the fatal crash on the A441 in Redditch, Worcestershire, on April 23 last year. Mrs Ayres was killed instantly while her husband suffered life-changing injuries. Ali, from Redditch, admitted a string of offences, including causing death by dangerous driving, at Worcester Crown Court. He was jailed for 11 years and three months on Friday and banned from driving for 12-and-a-half years. The court heard Ali, who only held a provisional licence, had been driving his sister's car but swapped with her to get their mother's VW Golf. The car was a Motability scheme vehicle that only his mother and sister were insured on. Dashcam footage from the Golf captured the moment Sanaa Shahzad, his sister, showed him how to operate the automatic car. She let him use it while she attended an eyelash appointment after swapping cars at a car wash in Redditch. Ali left the car wash and was clocked on the Golf's dashcam travelling at 62mph in a 30mph zone. He also had a near miss with a car coming the opposite direction under a railway bridge. Seconds later, Ali went twice around a roundabout too fast, ignoring the designated lanes before hurtling onto the Alvechurch Highway at full throttle. Ali lost control of the vehicle and veered onto the wrong side of the road, where he collided head-on with Valerie and David's Vauxhall Meriva. 'Thoughtless and selfish' Footage shows Ali running away from the scene before being arrested at his home a short time later. Shahzad, 20, admitted two counts of causing or permitting the use of a vehicle without valid insurance or a licence. She will be sentenced next month. Det Con Rose Hughes, of West Mercia Police, said Ali 'showed a total disregard for the safety of the public when he took the car off his sister that day'. She added: 'We hope this sentence and the tragic outcome will teach a sobering lesson about the reason for speed limits and driving regulations to anyone thinking about ever getting behind the wheel without having passed their test or driving in such a thoughtless and selfish manner, putting so many people at risk as he did. 'Ali should never be driving again. Offenders like him have no place on our roads. 'His sister Shahzad quite rightly bears some of the responsibility for the outcome of this tragedy too. She should never have lent him the car, especially as she knew he was a learner driver with no insurance.' Following the sentencing, Mrs Ayres's family paid tribute to 'the life and soul of the party'. David, her husband, said: 'We did everything together. Val was so bubbly and funny. 'Nuts' we used to call her, she was always doing stupid things to make people laugh and had a good time wherever we went. 'My life has been turned upside down, I can't express how much I miss Val and wish the whole thing never happened. Val was an amazing woman, the best there was. 'Val stuck by me through thick and thin, and I will love [her] with all my heart for that and more until the day I die.' Lucy, the couple's daughter, said people used to tell her 'I have never seen a mother and daughter so close'. She added: 'I cannot put into words what this man has taken away, not only me but the rest of the family. 'Every day, I wish I could pick up the phone to hear her voice, share my thoughts and for her to tell me everything is going to be ok.'
