Photo: Young Driver
Did you know that back in the 1930s, some safety experts believed that people would eventually become better drivers should they learn how to drive from the age of 4? And they didn’t mean just on the sidewalk, but on actual roads – without any traffic, obviously.
One modern company that stands by those beliefs is Young Driver, responsible for the UK’s largest under-17 driver training scheme. In fact, they aim to teach young people from the age of 4 and upwards all about driving and road safety.
In order to do that, they designed and produced Britain’s first-ever electric vehicle for children, called the Firefly Sport. This tiny car really stays true to its name in terms of design. It’s hard to imagine any 4- to 10-year-old not thinking that it’s just the coolest thing ever.
Young Driver has already delivered more than a million driving lessons to under-17s in the last 13 years, with kids climbing behind the wheel of either a dual controlled car, a small classic car or the fully electric Firefly. Whichever one you get depends entirely on the child’s age, of course.
“Once you turn 17 the pressure is on to pass your test as quickly as possible and you’re trying to learn on roads full of impatient drivers,” stated Ian Mullingani, managing director of Young Driver.
“The government of the 1930s knew it, and we’re calling on the current administration to also prioritize making road safety an active part of the school curriculum. Having better-prepared young drivers keeps us all safer on the roads, as fellow drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. And of course there were only one million cars on the road in the 1930s, as opposed to over 35 million now.”
On a personal note, I think that teaching kids how to drive from a very young age can be enormously beneficial. The sooner you become comfortable with something, be it driving or sports, the better off you’ll be once you’re an adult. Most of the world’s greatest athletes started playing their respective sports when they were just 4-5 years old, so applying this philosophy to driving makes perfect sense.
In order to do that, they designed and produced Britain’s first-ever electric vehicle for children, called the Firefly Sport. This tiny car really stays true to its name in terms of design. It’s hard to imagine any 4- to 10-year-old not thinking that it’s just the coolest thing ever.
Young Driver has already delivered more than a million driving lessons to under-17s in the last 13 years, with kids climbing behind the wheel of either a dual controlled car, a small classic car or the fully electric Firefly. Whichever one you get depends entirely on the child’s age, of course.
“Once you turn 17 the pressure is on to pass your test as quickly as possible and you’re trying to learn on roads full of impatient drivers,” stated Ian Mullingani, managing director of Young Driver.
“The government of the 1930s knew it, and we’re calling on the current administration to also prioritize making road safety an active part of the school curriculum. Having better-prepared young drivers keeps us all safer on the roads, as fellow drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. And of course there were only one million cars on the road in the 1930s, as opposed to over 35 million now.”
On a personal note, I think that teaching kids how to drive from a very young age can be enormously beneficial. The sooner you become comfortable with something, be it driving or sports, the better off you’ll be once you’re an adult. Most of the world’s greatest athletes started playing their respective sports when they were just 4-5 years old, so applying this philosophy to driving makes perfect sense.
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