Learning to Drive can be one of the most dangerous skills a person can learn! There are so many driving schools out there you can choose from how do you choose?
Driving is something you are going to learn once, so you want to go with a professional company. Believe me, when calling other schools you CAN tell the difference…..
1) The first basic criteria a driving school should meet - they must be MTO (Ministry of Transportation) Approved.
o The Ministry of Transportation governs all driving schools in Ontario; they set all standards for the driving schools, the owners, & of course the instructors.
o The MTO – sets the standards for curriculum content, the 25 hours of classroom training time as well as the 10 hours of in-vehicle training time.
o You can find the list of MTO approved schools on their website www.mot.gov.on.ca – they are listed city.
2) Once you have narrowed down the list of MTO approved schools the following questions would be helpful to ask:
o About the Driving School:
§ How long have you been in business?
§ How long have you been in Oakville?
§ Ask about the owners – find out how involved they are in the school, with the training as well as in the local community!
§ How does the school accept payments? Must you pay in-advance? Do they offer a payment plan? How flexible are those payment plans? What is the refund policy? All too often we hear about driving schools taking money but not ever doing the lessons! Don’t get caught in that!
§ Does the driving school talk about having a really high % pass rate for the Driving Exam – be careful not to fall into that trap – driver training lays a great foundation but each individual student may be confident or not on the day of the test – there are many variables which could be factored in on the test day that could cause a student to fail – an average pass rate based on the examination centre pass rate is a better indicator.
§ Driving schools that focus on the maximum insurance discount is another indicator of concern. As an MTO approved school the students will get a certificate which is attached to their driver licence number – the insurance industry will give a discount to each and every student who has completed an MTO approved program. After that, the insurance industry will base rates on many factors – it is a misnomer that one driving school will get higher rates over another – even if they have a famously branded name – the only thing found to give a little higher discount with some insurers is the aspect of simulation training. Each individual should check with their insurance company to verify the basis of their discounts.
o About the classroom:
§ How many students does the school allow in the class (maximum number)?
§ What will the instructor to student ratio be in the classroom?
§ Ask if you can see their classroom – is it clean and tidy – Are they using those old flip up desk which can be cramped and uncomfortable or do they have big professional desks and chairs?
§ What type of interactive equipment do they have in their classroom? Very important – if the students are going to sit for 25 hours bored – they will spend more time texting friends or listening to their ipod – classroom training is the foundation for the in-car lessons that is why the MTO require so many more classroom hours compared to in-car hours – this is a life skill they are learning so they absolutely must be interacting with the material for greater understanding of the subject. Simulators are the best way to do this.
§ If the driving school claims to have simulation training – is it included in the 25 hours of classroom time? Who manufactured the simulators? What is the screen size of those simulators – size definitely matters (the larger the screen size the more realistic the experience!) – Who developed the software for the simulators – this is another important aspect of simulation training – this should be based on proven training methodology! How is the simulator used – are the students left on their own on the simulator – is it being treated like a big video game not as a serious training tool??
§ Does the driving school do training for professional drivers or upgrade skills for experienced drivers or are they ONLY able to train new drivers? This is important as it means the school has achieved additional designations from organizations such as The Canada Safety Council and is showing that they must upgrade their instructors every year!!!
§ When can you join in on a class – a driving school that says you can come in and start on any Monday evening for instance – how does that seem possible – there should be session numbers and each student must complete each session. There should be flow to the curriculum.
o About the in-car:
§ What year are their driving school cars?
§ Does the driving school have the proper amount of insurance – insurance for a driving instructor is very expensive and many schools take the least amount of liability insurance to keep their costs down – it is worth it to ask!
§ Is there EVER more than one student in the car at any time during a lesson? Listen new drivers have been passengers all their life – they don’t need to spend even 1 minute of their 10 hours of in-car training being a passenger – they have perfected that already.
§ How experienced are their instructors? Many haven’t been teaching for more than a couple months…it’s best to get an instructor who has lots of experience. Are those instructors re-trained every year?
§ Do they know the area in which the lessons are being done? Ask specific questions, you want to make sure they are familiar with your location, not just a call centre somewhere far away that doesn’t have a clue!
§ Does the driving school do emergency maneuvers?? Are the emergency maneuvers only done in-car?? Even better if they are demonstrated and practiced on a simulator first!!
§ Does the driving school take each person on the freeway?? As a new driver in the G1 phase the only time they are allowed on the freeway is with a licensed driving instructor!!
o About the price:
§ This is a big issue for many families as we face a weaker then normal economic outlook!! Caution - do not choose a driving school based solely on the cheapest price in town.
§ Soccer, Hockey, Baseball, Ballet, Gymnastics can be very expensive every year not to mention the cost of properly equipping & outfitting often with protective gear to keep them safe – is a repeated cost for families year after year. Driver training is a once in a lifetime purchase. Driver Training is the new drivers’ protective gear/equipment. You are about to put your new driver in an expensive 2000 pound weapon (aka- the car) set them out on our roadways where there are more distractions and dangers then ever before. You would not get the cheapest jock strap for your son and expect him to be protected 100% - why would you expect to pay bare minimum for a training program and then be surprised why they can not drive or worse that they got into a collision?? Sometimes in life the old saying - you get what you pay for really does apply – so the question then becomes what is your new driver’s life worth…???
Driver training when properly and effectively executed saves lives!!! You need an MTO approved program – highly engaged owners not only in the school, but also in the community, a good high quality interactive training program that gets the students engaged in the material as well as keeps them engaged, instructors with experience, integrity and heart who are passionate about keeping people safe on the roadways. That is what makes up a Great Driving School.