Learning to drive - lucrative from an audio freelancing perspective?

[Line666]

So I got bumped out my flat because my landlord took a dislike to me recently and I had to move back in with my folks, part and parcel of this is that I now have to listen about where my life is supposedly going wrong and how I'm supposed to magically remedy this through jumping through various random hoops whilst being garrisoned in the shit end of nowhere.

One of the things my dad bleats on about is learning to drive, now I'm 20 and to be honest when I'm in the thick of things living in the city I really don't consider this any use to me at all - if someone needs me I can throw most of my audio shit in a bag and at worst have to catch a taxi to any given location. To be honest I'd rather have a dedicated location but my portfolio of work is too limited for this at the moment.

Anyway my dad is convinced that spending a couple of grand on learning to drive would somehow be super lucrative to my given employment situation whilst I'm more of the opinion I'd be pissing my money up the wall on something that would be categorically just an extra expense for me if I was already back in a more suitable locale for actually getting any shit done.

I'm sure I've probably answered my own question but on the possibility that I've severely misjudged the old fart what is everyone elses personal experience with this?

 

[Terminus]

If you're just mixing bands from the comfort of your room I dont see an issue with driving. If it's recording then I'd say go for it and do the driving course but that price is much more than it was when I was getting my DL. unless it includes a car somehow.

 

[MindMunch]

Is it that much expensive to get some driving lessons in Scotland? I think you should learn. It´s not that difficult and it´s useful even if you don´t plan on having a car. Also, what are you going to lose? 4 weeks? This is one of those things that it´s better to take it off your back.

 

[Skinny Viking]

learn to drive dude. Even if you don't see yourself doing it much in the near future, its a basic skill at this point that any 20 year should have .... city dweller or not.

As for spending a couple grand ... I don't get that. Not sure how it works there but here you apply for a learners permit by taking a test and that allows you to drive with another licensed driver in the vehicle supervising for a small period of time until the permit expires. You learn it and take the full driving test for your full license before the learners permit expires.

BOOM

done

driver

 

[Line666]

Yeah I probably overestimated the figure slightly, would need to spend a fair bit on lessons anyway, I'd rather gnaw my own leg off before I let my dad attempt to attempt to teach me anything - completely devoid of patience and he'd end up harassing me into a tree. I think it probably does require a bit more time/investment in the UK than in the states because nearly all the cars are manual and the roads are never straight. Just find it hard to muster up the energy to do something that would have probably no discernible immediate benefit for me besides further diminishing my bank account.

 

[Skinny Viking]

its a one time investment for something you can do for the rest of your life ... like a bicycle, you never forget how to drive a car once you learn even if 10 years go by

don't you have any friends with a driver's license? Might go easier than having your pop shouting at you and also save you $$$ on the lessons ... unless its required to actually pay for lessons to get your license there

 

[DanLights]

NEVER LET YOUR DAD TEACH YOU HOW TO DRIVE.

Yeah you should learn, it´s a pretty basic skill any grown person should have IMO, just take classes, do the test, get your license.

 

[Line666]

its a one time investment for something you can do for the rest of your life ... like a bicycle, you never forget how to drive a car once you learn even if 10 years go by

don't you have any friends with a driver's license? Might go easier than having your pop shouting at you and also save you $$$ on the lessons ... unless its required to actually pay for lessons to get your license there

I do and no it's not - there's just not anyone I'd feel particularly comfortable nosing up for that sort of help.

Anyway thanks for the help guys, I'll get it done.

 

[GeertSamuel]

It's not worth driving if you wont have the posibillity to drive regularly.
I've got friends who got their license when it was allowed, but haven't driven since (6/7 years).
When they get back behind the wheel they are a danger to themselves and others.
Start driving when it's usefull, or just before that.

 

[midget donkeys]

When I was in high school in Michigan it was part of the public education system. It cost me zero dollars. I also grew up 12 miles from the town I went to school in so driving was necassary.

I do recommend learning to drive. It might not be usefull now, but if you want to go live/travel different places it is very handy. You never know were you will end up or what you will do in the next 60 years. The sooner you learn something in life the better.

My sister in law does not know how to drive and she is in her late 30's. It totally handcaps were she can live and work.

 

[monoxide_child]

So I got bumped out my flat because my landlord took a dislike to me recently and I had to move back in with my folks, part and parcel of this is that I now have to listen about where my life is supposedly going wrong and how I'm supposed to magically remedy this through jumping through various random hoops whilst being garrisoned in the shit end of nowhere.

One of the things my dad bleats on about is learning to drive, now I'm 20 and to be honest when I'm in the thick of things living in the city I really don't consider this any use to me at all - if someone needs me I can throw most of my audio shit in a bag and at worst have to catch a taxi to any given location. To be honest I'd rather have a dedicated location but my portfolio of work is too limited for this at the moment.

Anyway my dad is convinced that spending a couple of grand on learning to drive would somehow be super lucrative to my given employment situation whilst I'm more of the opinion I'd be pissing my money up the wall on something that would be categorically just an extra expense for me if I was already back in a more suitable locale for actually getting any shit done.

I'm sure I've probably answered my own question but on the possibility that I've severely misjudged the old fart what is everyone elses personal experience with this?

i guess the answer to your question depends on how far away your parents's place is from your old flat
if you're close enough, then learning to drive would be a waste of time/money cuz you didn't need to drive while you were in your old flat
if you now live too far away from your old flat, then you'll need to drive to get to within walking distance to the places that you used to walk to

 

[arvoitus]

learn to drive dude. Even if you don't see yourself doing it much in the near future, its a basic skill at this point that any 20 year should have .... city dweller or not.

As for spending a couple grand ... I don't get that. Not sure how it works there but here you apply for a learners permit by taking a test and that allows you to drive with another licensed driver in the vehicle supervising for a small period of time until the permit expires. You learn it and take the full driving test for your full license before the learners permit expires.

BOOM

done

driver

That's the USA.

Here in Netherlands (for example), a normal person needs 32 hours of driving lessons. An hour driving lesson is about 40 euro.
That's 1200 euro for driving lessons only, then you have the theory exam/skill test/etc and the actual driving exam/test.

Average price of a driving license: 1600 euro.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Same thing here...... provisional driving license.

Fucking petrol though

 

[Skinny Viking]

That's the USA.

Here in Netherlands (for example), a normal person needs 32 hours of driving lessons. An hour driving lesson is about 40 euro.
That's 1200 euro for driving lessons only, then you have the theory exam/skill test/etc and the actual driving exam/test.

Average price of a driving license: 1600 euro.

Well, thats why I said "... I don't get that. Not sure how it works there but here..." & "... unless its required to actually pay for lessons to get your license there"

To which he answered that its not required

I wasn't under the impression that every country would have the same rules and practices when it comes to this

 

[kvoid]

Lotsa places around the globe where if you can't drive, you're basically useless (America, the Arab Gulf...)

 

[Strachan of D]

a standard price for an hours lesson is £20 , the theory test is £60 and the practical test is £61 . get out in an arnold clark dual control car there £19 for 2 hours and youd need someone whos been driving for 3 years i think

 

[Folkrav]

Damn, that's expensive... Here in Quebec (kind of french Canada) driving lessons have been made mandatory. Before the law it would have cost me 450 to 500$ CAD to take the minimum lessons, now that you MUST take lessons in order to get the license, it costs around a thousand. I'm just so glad I had my license without lessons just about a month before the law applied...

 

[ahjteam]

learn to drive dude. Even if you don't see yourself doing it much in the near future, its a basic skill at this point that any 20 year should have .... city dweller or not.

Never driven a single meter in my life with a car. I'm 27. Also getting a drivers license cost like 1600-2000€ here

 

[Empathy]

NEVER LET YOUR DAD TEACH YOU HOW TO DRIVE.

My old man taught me and I've had no problems.

Having a driver's license is all well and good, but consider not just how much it costs to get the license in the first place, but how much it is to use it.

I drive a 2006 Holden Vectra (Australian equivelant of the likewise-named Opel/Vauxhall). Has a 2.2L 4-cylinder engine, manual gearbox, pretty much the lowest-spec model. Cost me $12,000 second hand. Here's a run-down of how much it costs me each year;

Insurance: $700 p/y
Licensing: $450 p/y
Fuel: ~$1000 p/y (~10L/100km, even though I drive like a fucking maniac)
Servicing: $200-300 p/y (I save a lot of money here by doing almost all of it myself)

Of course there's also the things I wouldn't classify as service costs; tyres cost me $200 each. Brakes are ~$300 to replace the whole set. Catalytic converter recently shat itself, I've been holding back on paying $550 for a new one since it's not critical (just makes my exhaust smell like an exhaust, cops will mark my car as non-roadworthy if they pull me up on it). Parking it costs me ~$12/day or $3.70/hr if I decide I can't be fucked with the train (funnily enough, the train only costs me $3 for a return trip each day).

All in all this year, I'll spend a little less than $3000 driving that car. A small-engined, economical sedan. If I had given in to temptation like many other people my age in this country and bought myself a stonking-great-big 6.2L V8 Ute, I'd be looking at more than twice the yearly running costs as my Vectra. Close to $8000.

All that said, it's $3000 a year VERY well spent. Wouldn't survive without it.

 

[Trevoire520]

It's well worth learning to drive dude. Driving and owning a car allows me to:

Work for a PA hire company, driving their van.
Work much further from home than I could by relying on public transport. And work any hours I like rather than having to worrying about getting a bus home, or relying on someone else to give me a lift.
Move my amps/mic's/recording rack/mic stands/drums around for sessions not at my usual studio.

It's really a good skill to have. Especially in Scotland where the public transport is completely over centralised so if you ever need to go anywhere out of the city the public transport instantly becomes shit.

I know it's expensive, but if you ever have any ambition to do anything outside of the city then you absolutely need to do it.