The Behind the Wheel Conundrum

They are posting them! It is the 15th! YEAH! Time to log in and hit refresh for hours to schedule a drive!

Do you feel like it is harder to get behind the wheel than concert tickets? Do you only check when you think we are adding drives? Have you checked your student portal regularly?

This part of our driving program has suffered greatly in the past year, and we are just as frustrated by the situation as you are. We would like to have many behind the wheel opportunities available for you to choose from. COVID did a number on our industry and we, like restaurants and any other service business, are struggling to recover.

Working Towards a Solution

We are hiring driving instructors and getting them on the road as soon as we can. There is a time-intensive training process and state laws keep us bound very tight on who we can hire and how we can train them and get them on the road. It is not an easy position to fill.

Do you know anyone interested in mentoring teens through this milestone in life and becoming a driving instructor? If so, we would love to hear from them. Please have them call us at 847-977-7193 or contact us through our website.

We have limited our driving program enrollment for 2022 and will continue to do so until we can keep up with the behind the wheel demand.

We are trying different methods to enter drives into the system to make it readily available, and as fair as possible, for everyone. Currently, we have brought the Behind The Wheel (BTW) scheduling in-house. Please call us to schedule your students BTW. We are prioritizing those students who are eligible to get their license in the new month or two.

How to Successfully Schedule Drives

CALL US! The only way to schedule drives during this time is to call us. We are concentrating on getting our older students finished so they can get their license.

What to Expect as a New Student

Plan on this process taking the entire 9 months to complete from start to finish. This has been our company philosophy for the past 12 years.

• A student takes the class, gets a learner’s permit, and possibly gets one drive while attending class.
• This student drives with his/her parents for at least 5-10 hours in between each lesson.
• Lessons are spread out about 30 days from each other.
• The student plans to spread out the drives for an entire 9-month time frame becoming a very confident driver with the parents working in partnership with us, practicing the lessons we have given them and reviewing all the skills we are teaching them to prepare for their final drive.
• By the final drive with us, the student is a very confident driver, has about 40-50 hours with parents, and is on the road, honing their skills, and building muscle memory so that the driving school road test is a piece of cake when the time comes.

REMEMBER! Every student needs to have a learner’s permit for a minimum of 9 months per state law, regardless of age, hence why we have built the program to last 9 months.

What we do not want you to do is expect that due to the teen’s schedule you can complete this program in under 6 months. You can’t. Not only is it something we can’t provide at this time, but it also is not good training for your new driver. If it is spread out as outlined above, that is the best path for success with our program, and for the training of new safe drivers, who will soon be on the road by themselves.

Thank you for your patience and keep your eyes on the road!

If you have any questions about our driving school or are looking to enroll your teen in our driving program, give us a call or visit our website to get started.

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