The cost was calculated by staff at the Nowra Red Cross as part of a funding submission for a program to help youth get licensed.

The program which ran last year linked driving supervisors with young job seekers who needed to log more driving hours to get their licence.

The cost using a medium sized car was between $4930 and $6140 and did not include the value of a parent or driving supervisor’s time. 

The figure takes into account wear on the car, fuel and other related vehicle costs.

It also includes fees for professional driving lessons and tests.

Learner drivers must complete 120 hours of supervised driving with a minimum of 20 hours driving at night.

One of the quickest ways to reduce logbook hours is through a professional driving school.

Each one-hour lesson is equal to three-hours of supervised driving, for the first ten lessons.

Driving credits and improved skills can also be obtained by attending safer driver courses.

However these instructions come at a cost.

For Shanyn King from North Nowra whose daughter Grace is learning to drive, that cost is an acceptable trade-off for the knowledge her daughter will be a safer driver.

As an intensive care nurse Mrs King sees the consequences of car crashes.

“Anything we can do to make it safer, when we can afford it, is a good thing,” she said.

Both of Grace’s parents work and find it difficult to make the time to take her driving.

“It’s a huge thing and it’s a real juggle to get their hours up,” she said.

Mrs King’s struggle to find the time to take her daughter driving had been echoed by many parents to local driving instructor Peter Dryer.

Mr Dryer who owns Red Car Driving School said while the lessons do come at a cost, the cost parents seemed most concerned with was the one on their time.

“With driving lessons students essentially get three for one, because one hour with us takes three hours off the logbook,” he said.

“So that means they’re only really paying $23 per hour which is probably cheaper than the wear on the car and the parent or supervisor’s time.

“People are more concerned about the time rather than the financial expense.

“People find it difficult to make the time because they have work and school commitments as well as other time constraints,” he said.