I have been an instructor since 1980 and on the board of directors of the Driving School Association of California since 1989. Almost every year since I can remember, students and parents have asked me or more to the point told me that as of such and such year kids born after that year will have to be 18 before they get a licence. The answer is the same then as now.

THERE IS NO LAW BEING CONTEMPLATED OR ON THE BOOKS AT THIS POINT IN TIME.

1. As President of the Driving School Association of California I can assure you we have a paid lobbyist in Sacramento and no law has been proposed or is considered at this point in time 10/21/2012.
2. Generally the public gets what it wants in California, and most parents want their kids driving at 16 if they wish, and the reason in most cases is, the parents are happy to not be tied to driving the kids everywhere and welcome the family help.
3. Actually raising the age to 18 although it sounds good in theory it really is not for those who understand the problem. At 16 a teen getting a license will be under parental supervision for at least 2 years of driving, gaining hopefully some valuable experience and maturity. At 18 kids are not often at home and are off in College and learning without parental supervision or training requirements. This puts a young driver out on the road without supervision let alone the college experience.

The sad truth is that the statistics have been going up on the 18 and 19 year olds in fatal or serious accidents as the stats have been dropping on the 16 year olds that are getting trained. The reason is because after 18 there are no mandatory training requirements and youngsters have been waiting until they can turn 18 to avoid paying for training and have the stiffer driving requirements imposed on them. So what is being proposed is to close that loop hole and require teens up to 20 to do Driver Education and Training, so they hit the road with some professional knowledge and training.

Q. How long has the school been in business.

A. The length of time a School has been operating is one measure of their effectiveness. This usually indicates the amount of experience and skill they will bring to teaching YOU. Consider of course that the DMV changes a license when a school goes from private ownership to corporation so it can skew the years factor.

Q. Does the school teach adults and seniors, as well as handicapped, disabled, and learning challenged people, or do they just teach teenagers?

BMW 328i
Equipped with Air bags, A/C, Side impact air bags and Anti lock brakes

A. Teenagers are for the most part the easiest to teach. They are always involved in learning, so they learn quickly. They are also highly motivated often fearless so they really work hard at learning.

Adults and seniors, who have been away from daily learning, are likely to learn more slowly. They are also more difficult to teach, since they often have their own ideas about driving. Handicapped and learning challenged are even harder to teach.

Schools that train their instructors to teach adults, seniors, handicapped, and disabled or learning challenged offer you a much higher level of skill, knowledge and experience than those who just can teach teens. These instructors are generally a world apart from the ones just teaching teens.

Q. Does the school have a formal driver’s education curriculum, or do they just have the students read the DMV Driver’s Handbook.

A. A thorough Driver’s Ed course goes well beyond the Driver’s Handbook. In this day and age of online education it is even hard to find a school that offers the classroom let alone can teach it. Nevertheless a school that does offer it with a licensed instructor teaching the class is a good sign again that they are a serious school. However find out about the class what is being taught is there a teacher teaching. Do they abide by all the hours required, 25 real hours must be offered.

Q. Does the school teach a full curriculum of the skills needed to drive and stay alive, or do they just run you around in the car.

A. There are at least 25 so called skills in driving required to drive and stay alive on today’s highways. Driving Schools may follow a detailed curriculum for teaching those skills. Or they may simply sit you in the car and let you drive around. Ask the school to explain, for example, exactly how they proceed, from the start, to teach you how to drive. Ask how they teach specific driving maneuvers, such as a left turn. How do they teach you to use your hands and position yourself in your seat. The use of your eyes and feet? Make sure that you are paying for learning something and not joy riding.

Q. Is the school licensed and insured?

A. Driving schools must have a State License, a city license or business license and Commercial Liability insurance. Ask about them and you may ask to see them if you are at their office.

Q. Will the school allow you to put the charges on a credit card?

A. A hallmark of a professional school should also be are they serious enough to accept Credit Cards. The protection offered by Credit card payment is often better for the client. Schools not offering Credit cards may not be able to qualify for the service or may have a problematic history, or just do not want to pay the extra fee. Do your homework.

Q. Will the school let you use their car for the drive test.

A. Schools that will not allow you to use their car are possibly improperly insured and if they took the car to the DMV they would have serious problems.

Certain insurance carriers do not allow the car to be used that way.

However any school that will allow you to go with their car for a drive test when you are not ready is a school that is more concerned collecting money than training you correctly. A good school will generally have a very high pass rate and that is due to training and saying no to a person that is not ready.

Q. Is the school a member of the Driving School association of California and or the Americas.?

A. Members of the Driving School Association of California pledge to provide quality services in a professional manner, and to conduct business in an ethical manner. It also means that school has met higher standards than required by the DMV.

Q. What is the price of your services?

A. After asking all the other questions this should be your last one not your first one.

Many people find paying for a driving instructor is outrageous, even when it is less than a plumber. People will pay $90 an hour for a clogged drain or toilet but $90 an hour for a driving instructor teaching a life skill is too much, but that should and would be a reasonable price.

Fortunately not every person thinks this way, but in a society that was given so called free driving lessons for years, (there is no free driving lesson it was paid through taxes, tariffs and thickets) ,it is hard for that society to adjust to the concept of paying for driving lessons.

Of course the other part of the story is that most parents believe they can teach their child to drive correctly and safely, even though as they drive on a daily bases they comment on the other bad drivers, those drivers are parents also. As a veteran of 33 years in the industry I can assure you nothing is further from the truth. Just because you can brush your teeth does not make you a Dentist or a dental hygienist. Just because you can administer aspirin and cold medicine or clean a cut and put a Band-Aid on does not make you a doctor. Just because you can saw and hammer does not make you a carpenter. I could go on and on but I am sure most of you are getting the picture.

So, why do so many people resent paying for driving lessons, that administered well could reduce financial losses in their future not to mention issues of life and injury. My guess is they just do not give it enough thought, because if they did they would know that if the professional is good it is worth every penny, but there lies the rub. How do I tell if a school or professional is worth what they are asking for?

Here are a few pointers and red flags you should be looking for.

1. Anything less than 8 times minimum wage should be suspect

a. any instructor making minimum wage about $8-9 per hour cannot make a living and will not stay with the job and become a  professional.

b. Even at twice minimum wage if they are not working 35-40 hours a week they are struggling.

2. Gas per hour in a lesson runs any where from $4-6 an hour between lesson time and coming and going.

3. Commercial liability insurance is required and is far more expensive than personal liability insurance.

4. Car payments can run on new cars between $250 to $500 a month depending on variable factors of interest rates money paid down and cost of car and years of payments.

5. Schools operating with old cars or second hand cars should be a concern and scrutinized closely. Some are in good condition, many are not.

6. Advertising costs vary and are expensive, they can add on average $15 to $50 an hour on a rate per hour.

7. Office expenses, and staff for an office are expensive, but the public never considers them as they are rarely seen, they think all they are paying for is a car and an instructor.

8. City tax is paid on gross earnings, State taxes and Federal taxes are paid on net earnings, if there are any earnings after all is said and done. This is an area that is often abused, by schools as it is not easily detected without audits.

9. Administrative costs such as licensing and bonding fees with the Department of Motor vehicles.

10. Communication devices ie. phones, GPS systems, and I-pads.

11. Vehicle maintenance and up keep.

All of the above cannot be delivered under an average of $50 an hour in this day and age, unless it is a sole provider working out of their home. Other than that SHORT CUTS are being taken, some legal, some not, some you may not care about, some you might. This of course does not take into consideration making a profit that all companies generally are trying to achieve. So here is the issue most professional schools are charging in the area of $55-$70 an hour presently in 2012, and depending on their particular over head in today’s market it is the going rate for a school trying to stay in business legitimately.  Any sole and sustained prices under $50 an hour are suspect and really should be scrutinized by the public more closely.

Look for DSAC (Driving School Association of California) schools, get referrals, but above all do not base your choice on price or “the instructor was so nice”, what about competent and nice.  Above all do not ask why some one is so expensive, ask why someone is so cheap.

Busting Urban myths.

Well you have been driving now for several years.

1. Is it legal or is it illegal to make a lane change in an intersection?
2. Can I get a ticket for making a lane change in an intersection?

The answer to the first question is, it is legal to make a lane change in an intersection.

The answer to the second question is, you can get a ticket for making a lane change in an intersection ( If it was considered to be unsafe). There in lies the rub.

If you choose to make a lane change in an intersection and it is done in a completely safe manner it is not illegal and not ticket able.

However if it is done and it was considered to be unsafe due to the present conditions, you will be cited. So people do get tickets in intersections but not for the lane change being illegal but for how it was done and it just so happened to be in an intersection.

This is how the myth was born because people got ticketed in an intersection while making a lane change and they assumed that was the infraction.

As a driving instructor I always inform my student that it is not the safest place to make a lane change with all the potential cross traffic that can interfear, but they are told it is legal and done in the correct and safest of situations there is no problem.