The ultimate guide to supervising a learner driver: tips for a safer, smarter journey
Supervising a learner driver is a big responsibility—and it’s about more than just giving directions from the passenger seat. Your role as a supervisor is crucial in helping new drivers build skills, stay safe, and become confident on the road.
Here are some essential tips to help you guide your learner effectively, with insights straight from our NRMA driving instructors.
What every supervising driver needs to know
Before you hop into the passenger seat, make sure you're legally and mentally ready to supervise:
- Stay focused: Your mobile phone is completely off-limits—even hands-free. You need to be alert and prepared to react at any moment.
- Zero tolerance for alcohol: Just like when you're driving, your blood alcohol limit must be under 0.05.
- Qualified to supervise: You must hold a full, unrestricted licence with plenty of experience under your belt.
Structuring driving practice for success
Want your learner to gain the most from every lesson? Structure is key. Here's how to make each drive count:
- Start simple: Use quiet streets or empty car parks to nail the basics like steering, braking, and mirror checks.
- Focus each lesson: Pick one topic per session—merging, roundabouts, parking etc to avoid overwhelming your learner.
- Match roads to ability: Begin with low-speed areas. Introduce busier roads and highways as the learner’s confidence grows.
- Track progress: Use a logbook or apps like Roundtrip to record hours, road types, and weather conditions. Variety helps build real-world readiness.
- Debrief after every lesson: Discuss what went well and what needs improvement. Keep it constructive to build confidence and skills.
A few more tips for supervising drivers
Reinforce the importance of safety
From the very first lesson, emphasise safe driving practices. Teach the importance of checking blind spot, keeping a safe following distance, and staying within speed limits. Model these behaviours during your own driving as learners absorb much from observing. Be patient and flexible.
Remember that learning to drive is a journey. Every learner progresses at their own pace, and mistakes are part of the process. Stay patient, adapt your teaching to suit their needs, and celebrate their progress along the way.
Book a lesson with a driver training instructor at the NRMA
Booking driving lessons with an NRMA instructor means those daunting initial stages of learning to drive are in the hands of a qualified professional and in the safety of a dual-control car. Hour-long lessons with an accredited instructor count for three logbook hours, to help your learner reach the 120-hour logbook requirement (up to a maximum of 10 hours, which are recorded as 30 hours in the logbook).
Our instructors can debrief you after each session so you can keep consistency across each practice and get valuable insight into your learner driver's level of skill.
