By Lucy Mitchell
While many student learners fall squarely in their teen years, there’s a rising number of adult learners starting to get behind the wheel.
If you fall under the category of adult learners, you may feel some stigma of being left behind or too old to start—but quash those preconceptions. They’re simply untrue. Anyone can learn how to drive regardless of their age.
That said, the journey to attaining a high level of driving proficiency has some fundamental differences between adults and teenagers. The driving fundamentals remain largely the same, but there are some nuances to consider that make driving as an adult feel unique, for better or for worse.
If you want to know the inherent differences to expect when driving as an adult, you’ve come to the right place. This article will delve into the differences you may face when undergoing the driver learning process. Let’s jump right into it.
Motivation and Purpose
The first major difference that an adult learner may have over teenage learners is their underlying motivation. Teenagers are typically encouraged by their parents to learn how to drive to free up their time. It’s more a matter of convenience than a necessity for these young learners.
However, for adult learners, the motivation is more of a necessity. Adults are free to come up with their own decisions and are thus more motivated to follow through with the driver learning process, especially if they’ve made the call to enrol themselves in one themselves.
Furthermore, for teenagers, learning how to drive early is more of a social milestone. It allows them to have fun and go to places of their own will. While it improves the teen’s quality of life, it’s not something seen at the same breadth as an adult learning how to drive to, say, reduce their commute time.
For adults, learning to drive is primarily focused on managing responsibilities efficiently, while for teenagers, it’s more about gaining a skill for personal enjoyment and future use.
Time Constraints
Another difference to consider as an adult learner taking up driving lessons is schedule management.
When you’re a teenager, you typically have a predictable schedule that you can easily fit your driving lessons into. For instance, it’s the norm for teens to set their driving lessons after school or during the weekends. This makes the learning experience more structured and smooth sailing.
Adults, on the other hand, don’t always have it so easy. As you grow older, you’ll have more responsibilities on your plate. This can range from familial obligations to work duties.
Given the tight scheduling, this may mean that incorporating driving lessons into your daily life won’t be as simple as compared to a teenager’s schedule. You may miss some weeks of driving lessons due to being too busy, which can cause you to lag behind in your lessons in some capacity.
Fortunately, there are many (Gold Coast) driving instructors who can work around your schedule and have flexibility with their availability. Consider partnering up with a driving instructor who knows your schedule and can work around it without compromising on value and cost.
Financial Independence
On the bright side, a perk of being an adult driving learner is the increased financial capacity you have to choose the driving lessons.
As a teenager, you’re often reliant on your parents’ allowance to cover your lessons. You may also end up spending some of your own money to cover the cost of lessons, and it’s no secret that teenagers don’t have the most amount of money.
Being a teenager also means you’re essentially locked into a particular driving lesson instructor if your parents are adamant about keeping you enrolled with them. This restriction can hinder your learning potential, causing you to have a less-than-stellar time learning how to drive.
As an adult, on the other hand, you have the independence to fund your driving lessons your way. If you don’t feel productive or at ease with a particular driving instructor, you can request a switch or a refund and look elsewhere.
That said, it can also be a double-edged sword. Being an adult means that you have to cover the costs of acquiring this driving skill. This means you’ll have to budget for it to ensure that the financial implications of learning to drive and owning a car are realised to their fullest potential.
Increased Self-Awareness and Safety
Adult learners tend to approach driving with a more risk-averse attitude than teenagers.
Teens typically like the idea of showing off and going fast to impress their friends, often with a blatant disregard for safety. Couple this with their relative inexperience when driving, and this can be seen as a big disaster waiting to happen.
On the other hand, adults are generally more level-headed and prioritise cautious driving, especially on long rides with children on board. This is supported by the high likelihood of adults having responsibilities like parents and children to care for. Adults are also more attentive and cerebral when it comes to driving, which can make for greater situational awareness on the road and them following safer driving practices overall.
Furthermore, the fact that adult drivers spend for their driving lessons (and their future car) out of their own pocket means that they’d be more conscious of driving properly in order to pass the first time. This habit of safe driving can be instilled in them and cause them to become safer on the road.
Lower Insurance Premiums
Adult drivers, particularly older ones, have one good thing going for them: lower insurance premiums. Typically, insurance premiums vary from individual to individual based on several factors, one major one being age.
The older you are, the lower you’ll have to shell out for insurance premiums. This is because insurance agencies generally regard adult drivers as more mature and responsible drivers—aka, less risk-prone.
Head to head, adults with a similar driving history to teenagers will enjoy a lower rate. Moreover, adults also have the leisure to choose the insurer they want to partner with, which can enhance the value of the partnership.
For instance, adults can bundle their car insurance with their home insurance. This can lower your insurance repayments overall, which can give you more money to use for other bills or necessities.
Understand Legal Obligations
Instructors tailor-fit their driving lessons to best benefit their students. They may approach teenage learners differently than their adult counterparts.
Teenage learners tend to be taught with a bigger focus on the mechanics of driving and safety measures. This is because it’s assumed that their parents will handle or educate some of the legal and administrative aspects of driving.
Adult learners also get taught the same thing, however, instructors often supplement their teachings with real-world processes to help adult learners manage car driving and car ownership better.
For instance, driving instructors may teach adult learners how to navigate license reinstatement in a legal way in their state or territory. They may also teach adult learners how to navigate court summons and ticket dismissals to ensure that they’re up to date with their legal duties.
In any case, driving instructors won’t hold back with the knowledge they have regarding the driving process—both within the car and outside in the real world. This helps adults become more aware of the legal requirements expected of them, which can make them more safe and responsible drivers.
Good luck driving and be safe, always!
