Is the rise in motoring costs the reason why people are putting off learning to drive?

Almost 228000 fewer driving tests were taken by learner drivers last year according to the Driving Standards Agency, which is a drop of 13% on the previous year 2009 / 2010. The number of young drivers between the ages of 17-25 taking tests has fallen by 19% since 2005 / 2006. So what is the reason for this fall in the number of people taking tests? Could the rise in motoring costs be putting people off?

Increasing cost of driving

To most people a driving licence means freedom. It is the gateway to a better life. People need cars to travel to work, some companies require you to have a licence to get the job in the first place. Families need a car to get about especially parents of young families where they need to take prams and so on everywhere. Cars allow us to go anywhere at any time and not be restricted by public transport schedules.

Ignition Driving School believes that the fall in young drivers taking tests is linked to costs associated with actually owning a vehicle and not the costs associated with learning to drive. In fact the cost of learning to drive is the lowest it’s ever been with so many driving schools offering discounts and promotions.

However, students now wishing to go to university have tuition fees to pay for and with the costs of car insurance for young drivers and fuel being at an all time high, young people are having to rethink about how they spend their money and are learning to drive when they are older and can afford it. A spokesperson for Ignition Driving School said, “We have seen a change in the types of courses that learner drivers want to do. We see a lot of people requesting to do intensive style courses, because they need to pass for a job offer they’ve been given. It used to be that learning to drive was a matter of course, you turned 17 and you started to learn to drive, but now people learn to drive when they need to, which may be when they are about to start a new job or when they have a young family.”

According to the RAC the cost of motoring has risen by 14% in 2011, with the average cost of owning a car being £128.64 a week. They found that various factors contributed to this rise including car depreciation, where cars are losing their value quicker making them worth less, car maintenance costs rising, car insurance premiums rising, on average costing 14.38% more than they did a year ago, and fuel costs being at an all time high, with two more fuel duty rises planned for 2012. In addition to these the cost of borrowing money has also become more expensive so people who take out car finance are also paying more for their car overall.

Ignition Driving School commented, “There is no incentive for young people to learn to drive as driving a car is expensive. Insurance companies used to reward young drivers for completing the Pass Plus scheme but even this advanced motoring course carries no weight now, with some insurance companies only offering a £10 reward for completing the course.”