Learning to drive is a lifeline our rural youth are being denied

Since the lockdowns of Covid-19, booking and obtaining a driving test has become something of a national crisis - and it’s one that especially affects those living in the countryside.

- Nicola Chester

The reasons for the crisis are complex. It’s no longer just a matter of backlogs, but a combination of a lack of driving instructors and centres, and a poor online booking system that can be tricky to negotiate and has allowed tests to be hoovered up and sold on by third parties exploiting demand.

The system, that already puts rural dwellers at a disadvantage, has become deeply and damagingly inequitable. With rural public transport sparse, infrequent, poorly connected and often unreliable, learning to drive is a lifeline for many of Britain’s rural young adults. It’s that flexible ticket to freedom, independence and agency: to college and work opportunities, friends that live distances away and those social and cultural experiences that just can’t be found there.