Behind-the-wheel driver training - need an instructor
Can anyone recommend a good driving instructor for a conscientious but somewhat nervous new teen driver? I've looked at yelp reviews and they are all a little suspicious (like two separate "driving schools" with no websites and each having exactly 20 reviews, supposedly all 5-star). I saw some reviews here, but they are all old. Berkeley Driving School got some good reviews, but a) the online course is frankly awful. It's cheaper than many, and it did contain some instruction, but a lot of it was poorly presented or even useless. And a friend who contacted them never got a confirmation from the instructor they had scheduled and he didn't show up (and I now see that they've removed their online scheduling). I had thought we'd just go with them, but now I'm suspicious. They had good reviews too.
I saw Ride On Driving School, All in the Family Driving School (those two may be related, I'm not sure), Ann's Driving school (which has more reviews, so maybe it's harder to fake, but it's also much pricier). I don't know how much those first two charge.
Do instructors need some sort of certification that I need to check? I'm operating under the impression that I need 2 hrs of behind the wheel training before she's allowed to drive with us. Does the instructor hand you a certificate of completion?
I'm looking for both instructor recommendations and advice for getting through this part of it. I'd like her to get some good instruction, not just to pass DMV muster, but to be a good driver. I was thinking I might want to schedule up to 6 hrs with an instructor. I have a girl, so if you are recommending a man, please tell me if you had a girl or boy for a student. I don't want to expose her to creepy men.
I know many of you have already been down this road (haha). Please share your wisdom!
(just an FYI, I learned from a friend in Alaska that teens get their learner permit at 14, and they need two years of practice before they get their licenses!)
Thanks,
Janet
Parent Replies
We used Berkeley Driving School for on-the-road driver training (We used a different web site for the online material.), mainly because it was convenient. There was online sign up for lots of time slots, so it was easy to schedule. We just used whoever was available. My son says the instructors were fine. They showed up when they were supposed to. The Berkeley Driving School instructors completed the paperwork both after the first 2-hour lesson, and when my son finished all the required lessons. My son did learn to drive pretty well, though he spent many more hours driving with me than with the instructor. I don't know if the instructors were men or women; we didn't care.
We used driversed.com for the written instruction and it was sufficient for our kids to pass the written test and get their permits. It is required that they do one lesson with a driving instructor before they can drive with their parents. After the lesson, the instructor stamps and signs their learning permit, so there is no extra piece of paper to lose. It is also required to do 6 hours of driving instruction (3 2-hour lessons), although you can certainly do more than that if desired.
You, as the parents, though, will be doing the bulk of the instruction, as you are required to drive with her for 40 daytime hours and 10 nighttime hours before she can take the driving test.
We used Berkeley Driving School for 5 beginning drivers and had zero problems. I just looked and they still have online scheduling. At the bottom of the picture, above the Facebook symbol, there is a button that says “Schedule a 2-Hour Driving Lesson”. That will take you to the online scheduling site. They have both male and female instructors and you can choose which you want. We have boys and girls and they all used cross-gender instructors and were fine. The men they drove with were not creepy and were competent instructors, but you don’t have to use them. My most recent driver (just got her license in late December) liked Laurie “Dee Dee” Bennett the most of the people she had as instructors. She provided helpful feedback and had a nice manner. Just so you are aware, Dee Fong Putthongvilai is a man.
We found it useful to have one lesson at the beginning, one lesson about half way through the 50 hours, and one lesson right before they were ready to take the test. The instructors do a mock test with you (using the DMV guidelines) and let you know what you need to work on.
Big fan of Bill's Defensive Driving in Pinole (http://billsdefensivedrivingschool.com/). Bill himself was the instructor for my daughter in 2016. Their policy is to conduct the required 6 hours of training WITH you (the parent) riding along, which taught me a ton of things & made me a better driver and a better coach for my daughter. (This also solves the creepiness question because you're right there -- Bill is totally not creepy!)
Before I heard about Bill's, my older daughter went through the training with Safestway in Walnut Creek (http://safestwayds.net/) in 2014. As with Bill's, the instructor comes to wherever the student is and picks them up. Her instructor was Carlos and she really appreciated his patience and calmness.
Note: in both cases I remember being frustrated trying to reach them by email. The phone worked a lot better.
You should obviously use Carlos, who is a gentle soul, calm and a wonderful teacher who charges almost half of any other teacher. My son, of course, passed with flying colors his first driving test. Carlos will also take your child to test, do all the paper work etc.
Carlos' number is : 510 816 8034