Random Driver's Ed Thoughts & Ideas for 2025

1.) First of all kudos to all you parents who are taking an active role in the development of your teen drivers, and shame on the ones who aren't!  There is a reason the state of PA wants teens with learners permits to have a six month waiting period and wants them to accumulate 65 hours of driving time before taking a road test..  So if you get 6,7,or 8 hours with a driving instructor, that means upward of 50 hours in six months with mom & dad!  We have "preached" this many times over the years but, if you are letting your son or daughter out on the road on their own in a vehicle with a junior driver's license with 20 or 30 hours or so of driving time, you're asking for a big problem!!  

2.) People, we routinely show up for a scheduled driving lesson at a students home and the student is frantically searching for their learner's permit..  We can not and will not take a student out for a driving lesson if they don't have a black and white (or colored for that matter) copy of their permit if not not the original document!  Pennsylvania doesn't accept electronic documentation of our license or a learner's permit.  If something happened while we are out on a lesson, we're going to have a big problem as a driving school, and your son/daughter and you as their parents are going to have a problem.  So we recommend taking the original permit and make two or three copies of it and stash the original so you'll know where to get it for taking the road test where you'll need the original, but you can drive around on a copy but not drive around with a picture of it on your phone!  That will not work..

3.) Your son or daughter has passed the road test and gotten their junior driver's license..  Congrats to them.  Now the "fun" and worry really begin!  We want our teens to understand the responsibility in being a driver.  You as parents can certainly help!  Consider having a Parent-Teen Driving Contract..  It can help you as parents outline your teen's fey driving responsibilities, decide and define the consequences associated when those responsibilities and rules aren't met, and define your role as parents in helping your teen to succeed as a driver.  Whether your family has worked with us or not, feel free to reach out to us on this and we'll be happy to forward you our template for this..