The high cost of learning to drive in Shropshire
Saturday 16th October 2010, 12:00PM BST.
Newly-qualified motorists in Shropshire face a bill of almost £9,000 to pass their test and be able to use their cars on the road, it was revealed today.
County learners can expect to fork out nearly £1,000 in driving lessons to pass their test, based on the UK average of 45 hours behind the wheel.
But the unprecedented rise in insurance premiums and other costs pushes the total bill up towards £9,000.
A Shropshire Star investigation reveals newly-qualified male drivers could pay almost £8,000 a year for third party insurance on a small second-hand car that itself is worth only £1,500.
Premiums offered to young male drivers are often double those to young women, the AA said.
The shocking cost of motoring to new county drivers comes with news that the price of driving lessons varies across the UK.
An hour-long lesson can be as low as £7.50 and as high as £34, a survey by Yell.com and Ipsos MORI found. The average Shropshire price is £20 an hour.
At the same time, the AA has recorded the biggest jump in the cost of car insurance since it started tracking the market, with teens bearing the brunt of the rise.
Young male drivers are paying the most. The Shropshire Star obtained quotes for a newly qualified 17-year-old male driver that varied between £4,143 and £7,839 on a third party, fire and theft policy.
One young learner driver, a 17-year-old student from Telford, today said he was forced to quit because of the cost of insurance, which was an extra £3,252 on his mother’s policy.
He said: “The only reason they put insurance prices that high is because they think every 17-year-old is a boy racer who wants to beep at old ladies and go tearing round the streets at 3am.”
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Quite right too.
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im sorry its not quite right. im a driving instructor and my learners are taught upto a very high standard and are better than a lot of drivers that are out there.
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Why is it males are yet again victimised? If it were the other way around I’m sure the cost would be shared out. I think this is blatant sexism.
I notice there is no racist issues and I’m sure certain races and ethnic minorities are more liable to have accidents.
Beat up the males again as they are too scared to protest and do anything about it.
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Or its the fact that men are involved in more collisions than women.
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Care to back that up with cold hard facts??
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This old chestnut. Even if this were true, surely the statistics are skewed by the fact that there are more men in driving professions & traditionally the male partner drives in a relationship – therefore more men on the roads meaning more likely to appear in accident statistics.
Plus don’t forget we are probably swerving to avoid lady drivers when we crash!
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Here you go.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/rrcgb2009
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It Cost me £670 to pass my test including my test fees but do know of several friends who have paid in excess off £2.000. For me to be insured third party fire and theft on an X reg ford focus 1.6lx will cost me in excess of £2000 and have had silly quotes of up to £26k!!! Im now insured on a 2.0L sports car for £930 fully comp which proves insrance really does not make sense.
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No wonder there are so many unlicenced and uninsured drivers on the road, the fine is less than having a licence and insurance, who can blame folk. us law abiding are again propping up the big finance organisations.
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and we wonder why people drive without insurance, it’s not right, but certainly understandable. Why not just raise the driving age to 25, might help with encouraging to use public transit too by the time you get to that age you’d have found many more ways to travel and have lobbied for improved public transit.
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Of course it’s expensive to learn to drive, those tractors don’t run on fresh air!
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If someone is charging £7.50 an hour for driving lessons is the pupil getting quality tuition here?
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Simple answer to this. If you can’t afford to take the lessons and to insure the car, then don’t learn to drive. It is not a God given right. There are too many cars on the road anyway.
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we have to learn to drive to get employment
as there is very little public transport available in this area .the jobs available are getting less so people have to travel by car.
it seems to me you are one of lifes losers.
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