Teach her how to park properly, I've just had my 3 week old Golf scraped by an idiot in a car park, if she can't park without scraping a car on her first outing she shouldn't be out on her own.

Edited by lordwoody on 12/04/2018 at 09:50

Maybe a Pass Plus course? She'll get 6 hours with a qualified and objective instructor.

I found that 'instructing' my wife didn't go well.

If it would make her feel better, why doesn't she try another driving instructor, pay the £30 or whatever it is for an hour, and go over parking specifically?

I would also do what you say by accompanying her on drives for a little while, however, I'd make sure not to engage in any passenger driving as this will only knock her confidence more.

Good luck and let us know how she gets on. :)

I passed my test, like many people, especially men, when I was at school, in my case, during my break between ending my A-Levels and going to university. I personally didn't have the money previously to either pay for lessons, never mind a car, so only learned when I had a summer job, going for lessons in my lunch hour or evenings/weekends.

Whilst I passed my test fine, I still didn't have anywhere near enough (I was earning £60 a week [yes!] back in 1992 [it wasn't that hard work - just a general office dogsbody]) to buy or run a car at the time, and then went to college for 4 years.

I didn't drive again until, in my first job after college, when my boss asked me to supervise the RAC man who was charging their Fiesta van (the surveyor's) and then drive it round the corner to the local main dealer to get a new battery. Needless to say, I was rather nervous, given a) I hadn't drive (at all) since my driving test over 4 years ago, and b) the little van had no rear window and, to get going, I had to get out of a tight space on the road, which was also on a steep hill.

I just about managed to do the job without mishap (my car control was, shall we say, pretty ropey), but the event didn't inspire me with confidence, especially when, in my next job (I was previous travelling to work by public transport) I needed to buy a car to be able to progress further up the ranks (going to site visits, etc).

Once I bought the car (only a Micra), I asked my Dad (a good driver) and Mum (OK driver) to accompany me to go on drives in the area just to gain some confidence before using it in the rush hour to go to work. Needless to say, things didn't work out the way I had hoped. My Dad was way to critical and we proverbially clashed (me threatening to leave him at the side of the road at least once) quite a bit, so, surprisingly, I found it more helpful having my mum there instead, even though my dad was the better driver.

Essentially, this story illustrates, I think, the need for a firm, but calming influence if you have someone accompanying a newly qualified/inexperienced driver for help, as support, done in the right way, is far better than just a 'critical eye'. As I found out, frustration on either side does no-one any good.

I personally would go with driving around on quiet roads first, then gradually build up to busier areas (including parking/slow-speed manouvering) and faster roads, before her needing to use the car for a task, such as shopping, taking kids to school, commuting, etc. Its a lower-pressure environment where you can pull over if required without any detrimental effect (no tasks other than 'just driving'). The parking in-between boxes/cones idea (in an empty car park) is worth considering.

Best of luck.