No one should give up on the idea of learning to drive, but for older people who’ve lost faith in their ability to learn to drive, the Bantry Driving Academy offers the perfect place to build confidence and prepare for a driving test.
 

Giving Older Drivers Independence

Our older drivers often explain that it’s the need to hold on to their independence that motivates them to start learning later in life. We get families who live elsewhere in the world booking lessons for their older relatives too. It gives them peace of mind to know their loved ones can shop or travel to appointments by themselves for longer.

Here in West Cork we’re lucky that people can call on the invaluable help provided by the West Cork Rural Transport service to keep on the move. It’s a great help to people throughout our community.

We like to feel that by supporting older drivers, we’re doing our bit too to make sure that people keep their independence for as long as possible. Our oldest trainee this year was 73, so it’s never too late to learn!
 

Starting to Drive Again

While some people have never learnt to drive, others gave up learning at some point, or have simply got out of the habit of driving regularly, and have lost confidence along the way. We get a lot of ‘restarting drivers’ here, partly because we’ve been lucky enough to establish a reputation as a friendly, family-run business, but also because the practice track is a great place for people to work on their driving skills at their own pace.

For older drivers, it’s important to learn in a place where you have privacy and support. When our learners have gained confidence, we continue their lessons on the public roads until they’re ready to take their driving tests.

Our message is simply that it’s never too late to learn to drive. There’s huge satisfaction to be had from succeeding at something you’ve been nervous about, and we’ll support you ever step of the way.

Do you know an older person who’d like to get driving? A gift voucher for driving lessons at the BDA can be a great way of helping someone to get started …