Historically, driver’s education in the U.S. has been poor. The only goal for most driving schools has been to get your teen a driver’s license with no concern about how they perform in the first critical year of their driving career. Fortunately, there are now beginning to emerge driving schools with the goal to create excellent drivers but finding them is still difficult. Considering over 20,000 teens die every year in car crashes and the costs of even a minor collision are large, choosing a driver training that can decrease the chances of your teen getting in a crash during the first critical year of their driving career is very important. This article can provide some guidance in selecting a driving school that can make a difference.

Engaging Program: In order for teens to learn anything, they need to be engaged. And its no different for driving lessons. They should be continually challenged as part of the educational process. Does the driving school communicate with the parents using feedback forms and their web site?

A key element of driver training is having a professional driving instructor. Find out whether the instructor’s training has exceeded the minimum requirements. Many instructors barely have the minimum required training. Other times police officers are used who are good at law enforcement, but not necessarily at driving instruction. Ask if they have received the same amount of training as professional instructors.

A very important selection criteria for a driving school is convenience. Can the behind the wheel sessions be scheduled online 7×24? Some programs include access to a dedicated customer center that can be used to answer questions at any point along the teen’s training process.

Does the school have proven results? Can they demonstrate specifically how well their program compares directly to that of other school’s programs? The vast majority of schools have no evidence of how they’re performing. Do they have a money back guarantee? Is their goal to simply get their students through the licensing process or do they truly have a goal to make them excellent drivers?

An important aspect of choosing a driving school is determining the amount of investment the school is making in its driver’s education programs. Do they have dedicated curriculum developers on staff? How much are they investing in their driving lessons? Or do they just take the same outdated material everyone else has and call it “good enough”?

A great driving school contributes to the community. This contribution can happen in a variety of ways and you should ask how they contribute. Have they actively backed legislature for the betterment of teen driving, such as cell phone laws? Have they sponsored programs, such as Washington’s Drive Nice Day? Do they work with local private and public schools?

The first year of driving can be a matter of “life or death” for your teen and selecting a great driving school can positively impact that outcome. Driving school selection can be a tricky process and its important to look at all of the criteria mentioned in this article. The educating of a driver is finally taking front row center and selecting the best school is of prime importance. Make sure you spend the time to evaluate driving schools and use the criteria in this article as a starting point for the process.

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