Supporting Parents to Be Safe Driving Supervisors
When your child is learning to drive, you are their most important teacher.
UK Safe Roads is calling for parents of learner drivers to complete a short refresher course in road safety and supervising skills.
Whether online or in person, this type of training empowers parents to:
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Teach with confidence
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Support the professional driving lessons their child receives
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Give their teen the best possible start to safe, lifelong driving
While professional driving instructors provide the structure and skills, it’s parents who spend the most hours in the car with their learner, and your habits, good or bad, have a lasting impact.
At UK Safe Roads, we believe parents should feel confident, up to date, and prepared before taking on this role. Research shows that young drivers often mirror their parents’ driving behaviours.
If parents speed, roll through stop signs, or use their phones behind the wheel, their teens are more likely to copy those habits. In fact, studies in the UK and overseas have found that learners with supervisors who’ve had traffic offences are significantly more likely to crash once licensed.
Why a Refresher Course for Parents?
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Update your knowledge – Road rules, vehicle technology, and safe driving practices change. A refresher ensures you’re teaching correctly.
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Avoid passing on bad habits – Parents often drive on autopilot. A short course helps you spot and correct habits before you pass them on.
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Be a better coach – Teaching your child to drive isn’t easy. A refresher course offers tips on communication, lesson structure, and staying calm in the car.
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Improve safety – In Sweden, where parents must complete a supervisor course before teaching their teen, young drivers get almost twice as much practice and have 40–50% fewer crashes in their first years of driving.
Take the First Step
If you’re about to supervise your teen, we encourage you to explore refresher resources available in your region. Some programs pair parents and learners with a professional instructor to learn safe coaching techniques together. Our goal is to see every parent in the UK have access to – and complete – a similar course.
Your influence matters. The more prepared you are, the safer your child will be.
Resources
Want to feel confident teaching your child to drive? We’ve created a free guide for parents supervising learner drivers.
Inside, you’ll find:
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Tips for safe, stress-free practice sessions
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How to avoid passing on bad habits
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The latest road rule reminders
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Step-by-step strategies to support professional lessons
This guide gives you practical tools to become the best possible coach for your teen driver.
Studies show that parents have a powerful influence on young drivers. When parents model safe driving and set clear rules, teens are less likely to take risks and are safer once licensed. On the other hand, unsafe driving habits can easily be passed on.
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International examples, like Sweden’s mandatory parent-supervisor course, demonstrate that refresher training for parents leads to more practice hours and fewer crashes among new drivers.