Did you know that the fine for dumping trash / littering on a California roadyway is a $1000?

Putting this in perspective with other violations,  littering is:

• 1000% more than failing to wear a seat belt.
• 500% more than a typical speeding violation.
• 300% more than running a red light.

Not only is the fine completely out of sync with other violations, but questions about the  littering law are also commonly found on the California Driver Permit test license.

Is this vital knowledge to a new driver?  Does littering cause a significant number of traffic fatalities?

Read the rest of this entry »

Note from Josh: This is the first part of our Saving Lives proposal,  a counter to the proposal by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to reduce traffic deaths among teens by increasing the minimum driving age.  We believe that laws should target bad driving behaviour,  not driving age.  If implemented,  we estimate that this single part of our proposal could save the lives of over 1,000 Californians annually,  in all age groups.

As a driving instructor, I find it completely irresponsible to include a chart which shows how many drinks you may have, and how long you should wait before driving a car.  I believe if you have been drinking, you SHOULD NOT DRIVE!  This chart gives the illusion that is is safe to drive if you have had only a couple of drinks.  It is widely known that even a very small amount can impair your ability to drive safely.

Granted, I am only 28.  I wasn’t around for the ‘good old days’ when it was ‘no big deal’ to drive intoxicated. Regardless of when you grew up, the law is the law.  It exists because people are killed every day by impaired drivers, and a staggering number of people are convicted of DUI every year.  In 2007,  there were 16,180 DUI arrests in San Diego County alone.

Most of these people think they are fine to drive, “I only had a glass of wine…” but what about the medication your taking?  That effects your driving ability too!  In fact, the law does not distinguish between over-the-counter, prescription, and illegal drugs.  A drug is a drug! You need to read the labels, and ask your physician about the effects of alcohol with your medication.

The law against drinking and driving should be clear, and have no ‘gray’ area!! What exactly does ‘likely’ mean anyway, if your under the limit… How will you know your exact BAC level? Especially when you have been drinking!!  Read the fine print!!

A DUI can be expensive, but money can’t replace human lives…PLEASE don’t drink and drive!!

Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

As driving instructors,  safety of young/new driver is our top priority.  A recent report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has advocating raising the minimum driving age to 17 or 18 years old.  We’ve studied the report and other relevant data and decided that we are opposed to this proposal for the following reasons:

Raising the Driving Age Punishes Everyone for the Mistakes of a Few Bad Drivers

Over 100,000 teens get their Califoria Driver License every year.  The vast majority of these drivers are responsible and safe.  Is it fair,  or even effective to punish them for the mistakes of less than .5% of their peers?  The No. 1 cause of traffic fatalities is driver error,  not driver age.

Teen Fatality Rates Continue to Decline Under Current Law

The most current California data shows that in 2006 teen fatalities decreased by 6.7%  from 527 in 2005 to 492 in 2006 – the lowest level since 2001.

(source http://www.ots.ca.gov/OTS_and_Traffic_Safety/Program_Summary.asp).

It is clear that the current laws are working,  and we should allow them to continue this trend.  Recent data release by the CHP shows the California roads and drivers are safer than they have ever been,  not just for teens,  but for everyone!

Read the full text of the CHP press release here.

While Drive Happy is opposed to raising the minimum driving age,  we fully support the goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities,  teen,  adult, or senior.  We are currently developing a counter-proposal to be released later in the week,  that targets high risk driver behaviour.  We believe that if implemented,  our proposal could save a significant number of lives, among all age groups.

Let us know how you feel about raising the driving age and what can be  done to prevent traffic fatalities in the comments section below.

Drive Happy!

We’ve just been notified by the DMV that our Student License program has been approved!

Once we receive our supply kit we will begin offering the Student License option to all of our students.

What the heck is a Student License?
A Student License is issued by an approved driving school to student over the age of 15 who have completed Driver Education (the knowledge/theory portion of learning to drive). What makes this program great is that it allows students to get Behind-the-Wheel 6 months earlier than a Permit and, no trip to the DMV is required.

This program is also ideal for students who are having trouble passing the written Permit test, as it allows you to complete all of your Behind-the-Wheel lessons beforetaking the Permit test.

If you’d like to find out more information, feel free to shoot us an e-mail or call.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to put that cell phone down and drive happy!

Alright California drivers!

You think you know everything about driving?

Let’s find out. GMAC Insurance Company has set-up a little on-line test for drivers nationwide. California drivers are currently running in 33rd place! Follow the link below and see how you do.

http://www.nationaldriverstest.com/

Well, it is raining in Southern California again. Check out our previous post for a rain driving tip here.

Drive Happy Driving School is pleased to announce that we will be appearing at the Murrieta Senior Center on May 19th 2008. We will conducting a free seminar for seniors discussing the issues facing older drivers.

The topics we will be discussing are:

We are looking forward to meeting everyone and helping you to understand the issues that senior drivers face.

Drive Happy Driving School is pleased to announce that we will be appearing at the Murrieta Senior Center on May 19th 2008. We will conducting a free seminar for seniors discussing the issues facing older drivers.

The topics we will be discussing are:

We are looking forward to meeting everyone and helping you to understand the issues that senior drivers face.

Drive Happy Driving School is pleased to announce that we will be appearing at Murrieta Valley High School on April 3rd, 2008. We will be guest speaking to Mrs. Mulhauser’s Driver Education classroom students.

The topics we will be discussing are the process of Behind-the-Wheel Driver Training and the DMV Drive Test Examination. We will also be holding a Question & Answer Forum to address any specific Driver Training or Drive Test issues that the students may have.

We look forward to meeting Mrs. Mulhauser and her students and helping everyone to better understand the process of obtaining a California Driver License.

First let me begin this post with a definition of the term Student License:

A Student License is issued by an authorized driving school to students who are at least 15 years old and have completed Driver Education. The Student license allows the student to drive with a licensed driving instructor only.

What’s the point of all this you may ask?

Being authorized to issue Student Licenses means that we can get students behind-the-wheel a full 6 months before they become eligible to get an instruction permit. This is especially useful for those eager students that want to get behind-the-wheel as soon as possible. With that in mind, we are submitting our application to the DMV to be able to issue these.

We are hoping that this process will be faster and smoother than our previous dealing with the DMV but, this is the Department of Motor Vehicles we’re talking about. You know how that story goes, right?

As always, we will keep you posted. Remember to drive happy, drive safe!