Driver's Ed

[sunnysideup]

Drivers Education Wasn't always a Requirement

After having been in Maryland for a year and a half, I was convinced until I read the first post that driver's education was not in the vernacular, never mind the curriculum. Don’t get me wrong; beautiful state, nice people, I’m just having a hard time acclimating to the driving habits here. I’ve driven cars, trucks, pickups, motorcycles, bicycles all over this country, including some of the largest cities in this country, for nigh on 35 or so years, and I’ve learned things in Maryland that I ain’t never learned....

....So, I guess I, too, at 50 years of age, am going to be looking for driver’s ed. classes - clearly I have a lot to learn.

Sorry, got in on this post late, I have been out of state for months....ha ha.
It may be that many drivers have never been educated in driving.

I do not know when it became a mandate for all (or even teens) but it used to be that if someone turned 18, they were not required to take a Driver's Education class in Maryland. Unless you had a reason to take the class, I bet most did not until they were over 18. I always blame my husbands lack of driver training as the reason he never learned how to use a turn signal...another 'symptom' of driving in SOMD.

Does anyone know when it was mandated that all drivers must take the Drivers Education class?

 

[belvak]

I have a teenager that is ready for driver's ed. Can you give me advice on the driving schools in the area? I have heard that CSM is a good place for them to go, but wanted other opinions.

BTW we are in St. Mary's

Don't know how "good" or "bad" they are, but my daughter went to Moore's in Mechanicsville. She was able to take a Saturday class there. They will arrange special classes if they get enough requests for it, so she had a few friends call and take it the same time. One thing I did with both of my kids was to make them keep their learner's permit for almost the entire year that it is valid. This helped in two ways -- first, they always had Hubby or myself with them while driving, so were less likely to develop bad habits; and second, we got a break on our insurance. They were covered but not "charged" for until they actually got their driver's license. Good Luck!

 

[awpitt]

... The other problem that I had was with scheduling. If I had a student out on the road and they were having a problem that needed extra attention (usually parallel parking, lane changing, making turns, etc.) I would keep them out a bit longer until they mastered the task. But this frequently meant that the student wouldn't be back at a scheduled time, or that the next student would be picked up late, and parents would complain because their schedules were more important than the kids learning to drive. As a result I had to place schedule over training, and that's when I quit.

Maybe if the person doing the scheduling had built some buffers into the appointments, there would've been extra time available for you to work on problem areas with the students.

 

[beamher]

I have to say that I agree with you. Let me rephrase that. She is old enough for driver's ed and I am shaking in my shoes that I have to let her drive. I want her back in a stroller where she is safe!

my teenager received her lerner's permit in august. yesterday was her first day out behind the wheel i started off slow--just through the neighborhood and the main road that leads into our development.

Is it a requirement that they must take a drivers course? I'm not up-to-date on the new laws/requirements.

 

[beamher]

I worked for a few months as an on-the-road instructor for a friend of my daughter's who ran First Step driving school (now closed) in Mechanicsville. The biggest problem I saw with the state's driver's ed training was that there is a requirement for four hours of actual road experience, but there's nothing that says the kid has to be behind the wheel. Just being in the car counts, and that's not good training. I would pick up my first student and have them drive to the house of the second student, then the second student would drive to the house of the third student while the first student sat in the back, and on and on. Out of an hour on the road the student might get 15-20 minutes of time behind the wheel, which wasn't enough.

The other problem that I had was with scheduling. If I had a student out on the road and they were having a problem that needed extra attention (usually parallel parking, lane changing, making turns, etc.) I would keep them out a bit longer until they mastered the task. But this frequently meant that the student wouldn't be back at a scheduled time, or that the next student would be picked up late, and parents would complain because their schedules were more important than the kids learning to drive. As a result I had to place schedule over training, and that's when I quit.

I :fainted: when my nephew told me he had more class time then road time and road time consisted of the picking/dropping off each other. i went when he told me he wasn't even taught how to parallel park.

 

[nachomama]

Don't know how "good" or "bad" they are, but my daughter went to Moore's in Mechanicsville. She was able to take a Saturday class there. They will arrange special classes if they get enough requests for it, so she had a few friends call and take it the same time. Good Luck!

I've had two go through Moore's, and another will be taking the class within the next year. I've been very pleased with them. They are very accomodating; they'll pick the kids up from school and take them back there or wherever they need to be (if they do some of their behind-the-wheel time after school). They are on at the corner of Rt. 5 and Baptist Church Road, in Mechanicsville. I think they now have an office in Leonardtown too, across from Leonardtown High.

301-472-1702

 

[BernieP]

CSM. I've talked to a number of parents that have experience with the various schools and they consider CSM the most rigorous. It is also the most professinally run. Our teenager was dissappointed to be going there because friends were going to Brand X (one of those suggested above). Then we heard the stories of having to wait to schedule the behind the wheel training. CSM has a fixed schedule that is filled out before the first class/parent orientation is complete. Behind the wheel training will be completed in connection with the classroom work.
Plus it might be a few dollars cheaper. As a parent, it is in a far better location and with a fixed, no nonsense schedule. There will be no classes missed or rescheduled because the girls are getting their hair done for the dance.

PS All BTW training WAS scheduled to begin and end at the school (CSM) but they volunteered to pick LHS students who had the 2:45 session up at the high school.

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

ummm, apparently this thread is a year old..? But people are still posting so what the heck

CSM takes the cake in terms of being the best to learn at. Now cheapest..? No. I think it is a decent amount over the other places...but would you rather have your kid actually learning to drive or just sitting there chatting with friends instead of learning (like it's highschool or something ) ?

I've never attended another school (obviously had no reason to) but csm did it for both me and my sister and at least i can drive well but i've had friends do A-1 and heard that it is a social group (like someone metioned about some of the places) and you actually end up having to wait months sometimes to get your behind the wheel training...sounds like a load of grade-A BS to me

 

[primoisbest]

Maybe if the person doing the scheduling had built some buffers into the appointments, there would've been extra time available for you to work on problem areas with the students.

There is one school in Charles County run by 2 retired Navy guys that is really great. It's called Best Driving Academy. They run a top notch program and really seem to genuienly care about what their student learn. They even take them to the MVA in their cars for the driving test. I highly recommend Best to all out there.

 

[glhs837]

There are occasional advanced courses that teach actual survival skills behind the wheel, beyond the usual "keep it between the lines" basic instruction.


I ask all parents to please, please, take advantage of any opportunity to get your children such training. Way to many incidents are made worse by the lack of advanced driver training in emergency maneuvers. So many drivers just "ride it in", locking the brakes, locking their arms on the wheels, and wait for the crash.

Training in "anti-panic", remaining in control, and taking active steps to mitigate the accident, by choosing the lesser impact site, or deciding that Fluffy might have to take the hit instead of ramming the car with four people into an abutment.

This combined with a real knowledge of what a car can really do (most folks have NO idea how hard they can push a car before it loses control) can save lives.

 

[angelbaby]

Driver's Ed...ha!

Who else took the course with Pete and Carol??? What was the name of their business? Whatever happened to them anyway?

I did!

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

There are occasional advanced courses that teach actual survival skills behind the wheel, beyond the usual "keep it between the lines" basic instruction.


I ask all parents to please, please, take advantage of any opportunity to get your children such training. Way to many incidents are made worse by the lack of advanced driver training in emergency maneuvers. So many drivers just "ride it in", locking the brakes, locking their arms on the wheels, and wait for the crash.

Training in "anti-panic", remaining in control, and taking active steps to mitigate the accident, by choosing the lesser impact site, or deciding that Fluffy might have to take the hit instead of ramming the car with four people into an abutment.

This combined with a real knowledge of what a car can really do (most folks have NO idea how hard they can push a car before it loses control) can save lives.

 

[widget]

It is my understanding that Drive Safe has dissappeared into the night. So Now I am stuck. My daughter had the classroom portion but has not had the behind the wheel and of course there will probably be no refund.

 

[magicmike]

You can request a refund through the MVA. You will get a portion of your money back. Also CSM will give your driver the 6 hours of driving required by the DE curriculum. CSM will issue you a letter staing that your driver did in fact receive their required driving time. With that letter and the the letter from Dirve Safe stating that they completed the class will be sufficient to take the driving test at MVA. Usually a Driver Ed certificate is issued upon completion of the course. These letters will replace that certificate. MVA does know what is going on with all of this as they are the ones that initiated this situation. If you have any more questions I will be glad to help you out.

 

[sinwagon]

You can request a refund through the MVA. You will get a portion of your money back. Also CSM will give your driver the 6 hours of driving required by the DE curriculum. CSM will issue you a letter staing that your driver did in fact receive their required driving time. With that letter and the the letter from Dirve Safe stating that they completed the class will be sufficient to take the driving test at MVA. Usually a Driver Ed certificate is issued upon completion of the course. These letters will replace that certificate. MVA does know what is going on with all of this as they are the ones that initiated this situation. If you have any more questions I will be glad to help you out.

There is no letter from Drive safe, they did not provide my son with ANYTHING and the one sheet they filled out each day they attended he took at the last class and took his learners permit to make a copy and did not give it back.

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

CSM in my opinion is the best....I hear that some others are just social meeting places....I know when they do the on-the-road part, it is just the instructor and driver....Not a bunch in the car...

Agree! My step-daughter just finished the CSM course (at La Plata campus). Instructor was great. She was nervous, understandably, but he was patient and she did well. Not anyone else in the car but her and the instructor. I do feel better she took the course there.


Edit: You need to register a long time ahead of time though!

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

I took my CDL course At CSM. They have an excellent staff. I would rate them Very High. They are very safety oriented. Good Luck.

One of the cool things about the CSM course is that they take the students over to the CDL course and put them in the drivers seat of a big rig, just to show them how little those drivers can actually see behind them. I was pretty impressed.

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

There are occasional advanced courses that teach actual survival skills behind the wheel, beyond the usual "keep it between the lines" basic instruction.


I ask all parents to please, please, take advantage of any opportunity to get your children such training. Way to many incidents are made worse by the lack of advanced driver training in emergency maneuvers. So many drivers just "ride it in", locking the brakes, locking their arms on the wheels, and wait for the crash.

Training in "anti-panic", remaining in control, and taking active steps to mitigate the accident, by choosing the lesser impact site, or deciding that Fluffy might have to take the hit instead of ramming the car with four people into an abutment.

This combined with a real knowledge of what a car can really do (most folks have NO idea how hard they can push a car before it loses control) can save lives.

Linky please as most Charles County teens aren't educated enough to read. They think 25=55 on Billingsley Road.

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

There is one school in Charles County run by 2 retired Navy guys that is really great. It's called Best Driving Academy. They run a top notch program and really seem to genuienly care about what their student learn. They even take them to the MVA in their cars for the driving test. I highly recommend Best to all out there.

Not pinging on them specifically, but I've been to MVA in Waldork a few times. Best Driving uses tiny cars with it totally full. They pull up to MVA with a full car and usually Hispanics. They even bring an interpreter. They take the test in that little car.

I didn't have my daughter use them. We heard really good things about CSM and would take another course in evasive driving if it were offered somewhere else. I'm just posting about my personal experience of observation.

If anyone has a link to some school that goes above and beyond the requirements of the state, please post. I'm sure some of us would like to enroll our youngsters (if only for peace of mind that we did the best we could).

 

[glhs837]

Linky please as most Charles County teens aren't educated enough to read. They think 25=55 on Billingsley Road.

Washington DC Area Car Control Clinics

Heres a Motor Trend article discussing teen driver education.

Teen Driver Education - The Young and The Reckless - Motor Trend

This is the basic sort of thing, and a great place to start. Like any skill set, practice makes perfect, but its not easy to practice these skills, nor cheap. Only in the last few years have I begun to know how much I myself didn't know.

About 7 years ago, I attended a consumer education event held by Cadillac (free) to promote the new direction they were going in. It was a comparison event, you got to do autocross style courses with the new Caddys next to thier perceived competitors, like Jag and Mercedes and such.

Then it was a Mazda event ($35), where you got to do various car control events, cornering, braking, etc, and at the end, you ran a lap on an autocross course which time was compared to those of that event, and others around the country the winners went to a national drive off to win a new Mazda.

Since then, Ive attended three SRT Track Experience events, and learned more at each one. Not strictly driving schools, but educational nonetheless.