Hello Summer! It is driver’s ed season and Maverick Driving Academy is offering opportunities for teens to start their journey to independence and freedom. Maverick has been providing driver’s ed services for 15 years. Many parents are considering the cost and ways to get their teens started on obtaining their driver’s license. Maverick is helping by answering the most common questions about driver’s ed programs.
Q: Why choose a driving school to help your child get their driver’s license?
A: The process of getting a driver’s license can be stressful. Once you’re able to get an appointment, knowing what documents to bring and what to do is important so you don’t get kicked back and have to wait even longer to be processed. By going through a driving school, you have someone you can speak to directly who is trained in how the process works, what the required documents are, and can guide you step by step. Many times questions will come up that you don’t originally consider so having someone to turn to for last-minute questions is valuable. All Maverick locations have staffed office hours to help you with just that. Customer service is our priority, and we pride ourselves on making sure all calls are returned and all emails are answered.
Q: I am nervous about placing my child with a stranger in a car. What safety protocols are in place to ensure their safety?
A: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation requires all instructors to pass a background check and be fingerprinted. At Maverick we also require that they complete 30 hours of driving instructor training before they are placed alone with students. Driving schools employ people who have a passion for teaching teenagers. While some may think it’s crazy to get in the car with a new driver, instructors see it as their way to leave a positive impact on society and the future. Some of our instructors have been teaching driver’s ed for more than thirty years!
Q: There are parent taught programs that cost less, why not choose them?
A: A parent has the option of parent taught driver’s education or a driving school course. There is a difference in cost, but it is comparable to what a parent spends on their child’s extracurricular activities. You’re investing in your child’s future safety on the road. Driving is going to be a skill they will need for the rest of their life and being able to adjust to different driving situations is crucial. While the parent taught option might seem like the easiest way, there are other advantages to choosing a driving school versus teaching your child how to drive.
A study done by Texas A&M showed that parent-taught drivers are 50% more likely to be in a serious or deadly crash their first year of driving than a student who went through a driving school. We have found that many parents don’t actually do the amount of instructing hours required by law. They sign the paperwork saying the instructing was done. Whether this is due to the challenges of not knowing what to teach, personal schedules or maybe they don’t see the importance of specific skill sets, their teen driver is out on the road without the experience the law requires them to have.
Also, many times parents will send a second child to a driving school after they have done a parent-taught program for their first child. They tell us that they will never try to teach one of their kids to drive again. It just wasn’t worth the stress and the conflict. Many teenagers will listen better to someone besides their parents when receiving instructions on how to drive.
Q: What skills are taught during the behind the wheel training?
A: Your student is going to build on their driving knowledge every time they get behind the wheel at Maverick. We have seven sessions that are broken down into specific skill sets such as wheel control, maintaining speed, merging on and off highways, and even parallel parking. A lot of parent-taught students are not able to do parallel parking correctly, which is something that is required on the road test for their license.
Q: Is there any other benefit to attending a driving school versus parent taught?
A: Most car insurance companies recognize the importance of the role a driving school plays. Companies like State Farm Insurance will give up to a 15% discount on insurance rates if your teenager goes through a driving school versus doing a parent taught program.
Q: What sets Maverick Driving Academy apart from other driving schools?
A: Many students tell us they learn best by being in a classroom. Our Power Points are interactive, we encourage discussion and interaction, and we do hands-on activities like using drunk goggles to show the dangers of drinking and driving.
We offer the authorized DPS road test. This is necessary when you are ready to get your driver’s license. During the behind the wheel training, we will actually take them on the road test route, so your student will have all the answers on how to pass the test before they even take it.
Finally, as mentioned before we understand the cost difference between parent taught and in person courses. We offer payment plans so everyone can have the same opportunity when it comes to driver’s ed, no matter what their financial situation is.
By coming to a driving school, you are ensuring that your teenager is doing the amount of hours required by law, learning specific skill sets, while being taught by a professional driving instructor who will set them up for success on their road test and their lifelong driving career afterwards. Our office staff is always available to help regardless of where you may be in the driver’s license process. Let us help you develop safe and responsible driver’s that we all hope to see on the road.
