Before your first driving lesson, there’s a few key things you need to know and one important thing you need to have. What you need to do to get your Learner Driver Licence in NSW, how to keep a record of your driving hours to prove you have completed the minimum number of hours required to sit your driving test, how long you will need to be on your Learner Driver Licence. Once you have your L’s you are ready to learn to drive!
How To Apply for Your Learner Driver’s Licence in NSW
Before you can legally drive a car in NSW, you need to apply for a Learner Driver Licence. To apply, you must be a minimum of 16 years of age. You’ll need to visit a Service NSW centre to prove your identity, pass a Driver Knowledge Test (DKT) and have an eye test.
The Driver Knowledge Test is available to download as a pdf or practice online and you can have as many attempts as you like. An app for practising the Driver Knowledge Test is also available.
Keeping a Record of Your Driving Hours on Your Learner Driver Licence
If you’re under 25, you must keep a record of your driving hours in a log book. You can choose to go old school and use a paper log book, or use the more modern approach of a log book app. You’ll get a paper log book offered to you when you get your learner’s licence or you can download one of the free log book apps from the app store.
The free log book apps help you record and update your driving progress. They calculate your 120 driving hours and ensure you have completed all 20 learning goals.
There are 3 log book apps that Transport for NSW accepts to choose from:
- Licence Ready learner log book app
- L2P learner log book app
- Roundtrip learner log book app
You can only use one of these apps and the hours accrued in one app are not transferable to another.
If you are 25 years or older, you are not required to log your driving hours in a log book.
How Long Until I can get my P’s?
You hold your learner licence for at least 12 months, and must complete 120 hours of supervised driving with a licenced driver, including 20 hours of driving at night time.
When you have done all of your required log book hours, you can use the app to submit your driving hours online and you should do this at least 48 hours before you are due to take your driving test.
If you’re over 25 you can apply for your provisional P1 licence at any time after obtaining your learner licence.
Your First Drive
There are lots of things you need to know before you drive a car for the very first time. Under the supervision of someone who holds a current NSW driver’s licence, you can get behind the wheel and begin to think about getting started.
The very first things you need to address are a few safety things and make some adjustments to the car and your seating/driving position. Check that all the doors of the car are closed properly. Adjust your seat so that you can reach the pedals easily with your feet (and push them in fully if required). If the steering wheel is adjustable you should move it to a comfortable height. Adjust your rearview mirror and both wing mirrors appropriately. At this point a good instructor should exit the car to demonstrate to you where your blind spot is and how to mitigate the dangersthis could present.
Next, your instructor should teach you about the pedals. The position of the clutch, accelerator and brake, how the pressure required on each pedal can vary. It’s important to learn how to use and release the handbrake and use the indicators, and one of the tricky parts-how to change gears. Getting the balance between the clutch and the accelerator right at the same time as changing the gears can take a bit of practice, but everyone has to start sometime!
Hopefully you have been preparing for your first driving lesson by observing others driving, learning to being aware of things happening on the road around you. Getting to know the road rules, particularly ones that might be more difficult if you have never paid attention before, like roundabouts or what to do if an emergency vehicle approaches with it’s lights and sirens operating. Observing merging etiquette and safe spacing between vehicles can be important to have an awareness of too.
Usually your first drive will be somewhere with few obstacles and not many other cars to contend with. This should put the least amount of pressure on you when you start, so you can concentrate more on what you are doing. Coordinating a few things at once can be difficult when you first start, but you will improve the more you practice.
All your hard work up until this point has paid off. You’ve studied all the necessary information to pass the Driver Knowledge Test and have gained your Learner Driver Licence. You know you’ve got to record 120 hours in your log book and it’s important to note here that every driving hour with a qualified driving instructor is worth 3 hours in your log book! If you would like your very first driving lesson to be under the watchful eye of one of our friendly team of qualified driving instructors, you can book in here.
Here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for…it’s finally time to start learning to drive!