We have noticed that while some parents are very eager to start practicing with their teen. Other parents are not as enthusiastic about the thought of being strapped in the passenger seat, with their teen at the wheel. Many teens are not getting the practice they need to be safe. Either way, I wanted to answer some of the FAQ’s I get regarding practicing. Along with some incentives to make sure your teen is getting the best driver education possible!!

Q. How often should I be practicing with my teen?

A. The law requires that a minor get 50 hours of practice with an adult 25 or older who is a CA licensed driver. 10 of those hours should be at night. This does not necessarily mean only Mom or Dad. Grandparents, other relatives, family friends, and even your teens friends parents are other good options. Drive as frequently as possible!!

Q. What should I be practicing with my teen?

A. It is important that a student driver get practice in lots of different types of traffic, and new places. Sometimes it is hard to tell what to look for. For the most part, new drivers can appear confident, and most of the time, make good decisions as the driver. Next thing you know, he/she makes a bone head maneuver, that caught you off guard. This can be very scary for the students practice buddy. This is where your experience comes into play #1 Remain calm!!! A panicked driver will do even stranger things… #2 Find a safe area and pull over to discuss what happened and what they should have done. I carry a white board, to illustrate my words. “Right of way” and “blind spot” are just terms until it’s time to find out first hand what those terms actually mean. If you need to be somewhere at a particular time, leave at least 10 minutes early!!!

Q. My teen does not want to practice, what do I do?

A. Don’t get angry. They are simply anxious about what you will think. #1. Remind them that you are under legal obligation to make sure they practice. Offer to drive out of the neighborhood, then switch. Start with shorter, more familiar drives. Often the hardest part is starting. Once they get going, most of the anxiety will disappear. Tell your teen that if they have enough, or want to stop, they can. Breathing is key, if you notice your teen breathing fast or sweating. Ask them if they are okay. People also hold their breath when they are frightened, remind them to breathe too, oxygen will help their brain function better. #2. I have also heard that bribery works…teens love a drive-thru!

Q. Can their be passengers in the vehicle?

A. Yes. As long as the “practice buddy” is in the passenger seat, your teen can drive siblings, or their teammates home after practice. Remember that your teen will feel more pressure to drive well in front of others. Make sure you feel that your teen is ready to handle some distractions, and added stress while driving before attempting passengers. I suggest talking with siblings about letting the driver concentrate, and keeping quiet if a mistake is made

Q. It has been a long time since I learned to drive. How do I know if I am teaching my teen correctly?

A. Ask the instructor! We are happy to answer you questions, and can usually pop in for a few minutes at the end of the lesson to discuss your Teen. We also would like to offer a licensed driver brush-up for practice buddies. This is a private one hour evaluation and brush up on your existing skills. This can eliminate arguments over ‘the right way’ to do something.
Having a private lesson is a great time to discuss any concerns you are having with your teen’s instructor. I myself did not take professional driving lessons until I became an instructor. I was amazed by who much I thought I knew… This class would be extremely valuable to anyone who enjoys being ‘right’ all the time Ask about our one hour brush up lesson for $55.00.

Q. I think my teen might need additional lessons… Can I get a price break on a second set?

A. We set up our lesson format to be very flexible. There are 12 and 18 hour packages available, or you may do lessons a la carte, as needed. For the holidays, we decided to offer a special promotion to students who could benefit from some additional training. After your student has completed their first six hours on instruction, and you purchase an additional six hour package for $300.00, we will use the last lesson as the drive test! This is a $60.00 savings!

Regular Price Break down:
Lesson #5 $80.00
Lesson #6 $80.00
Lesson #7 $80.00
Drive test $120.00 (includes one hour warm up, test in our car, unlimited time at DMV for processing, ride home
Total $360.00

At Drive Happy our goal is not to be the largest driving school. We simply want to be the best. We are very proud of what we do. My favorite part of teaching is seeing the students ‘light bulb’ switch on, and suddenly everything make sense. I really enjoy building pride and confidence in my students. People often overlook the importance of driving safely. We focus so much on work, school, and family…that we forget how we get to work, school, and family. We drive, everyday. We all share the same roads, and all share the right to be safe. Let’s work together, and Drive Happy!!

Good morning everyone!

The summer season has been so busy that we had to buy another car for training! Brian at onedaywraps.com just installed the artwork last Friday and it looks great. Here is a pic:

Special cameo appearance by our dog Jack.

We are currently waiting on our instructor brake pedal to arrive and be installed. Once that is complete we will take it to our mechanic at Gearhart’s Garage for the Safety Inspection and we are ready to begin teaching. We will keep you posted on the status.

As soon as we can get the new car on the road it should open up a lot of spaces in the schedule, which is good for everyone. Amber and I appreciate your patience while we get everything prepped and ready to go.

Good evening everyone!

The Live Chat feature available from the Contact page has been fixed. Hopefully, it will continue to work for awhile this time.

Please note that Live Chat does not operate on a set schedule. I have it activated on the days that I am in the office, or when I happen to be logged in working on the website. You may see me listed as available at 7am in the morning, or 11pm at night (like right now). If I am not listed as available please feel free to call our office, or send an e-mail to Amber, or myself directly.

It is was not my intent to use the Live Chat to replace our office hours, phone hours, or e-mail. I initially set it up because it seemed like a fun technical challenge. It has turned out to be all that and quite useful, so I have worked to maintain it for almost 3 years now.

I’d like to make clear that if you are using Live Chat you are talking directly to me (Josh). You are not being connected with a third party service representative, or an automated service (yes, I can actually type that fast). I can answer any question that you may have, or assist with any questions or problems related to your account just as quickly and accurately as I can over the phone. Don’t be afraid to give it a try.

Drive Happy!

This is a test to see if I can update the website from my phone. Don’t worry!  I am not teaching, or driving. This is only a test

Update: IT WORKED! That is awesome.

The artwork for the Drive Happy Training car is done, and it looks great!

Here are some before, during, and after shots for you!

BEFORE:

UNWRAPPED:

NEW ARTWORK:

I’ll upload some high resolution photos later today. We have not had time to do a proper photo shoot!

Our driver training vehicles is a Toyota Corolla LE. As many of you know, the Toyota Motor Corporation has issued recalls on many on their models due to a problem with the accelerator. We have been tracking these recalls and new developments with great interest.

We assure you that our training car is unaffected by this recall, and is safe. We will continue to monitor the news and recall notices coming from Toyota Motors to ensure that our vehicle continues to be safe. We do not anticipate any recall notice to be issued on our Toyota Corolla. All of the affected vehicles use a “drive by wire” system that our vehicle does not have.

What do driving instructors do on Sunday evenings? We inspect the braking system on our training car, and replace the rear brake shoes!

We replaced the front brake pads with a nice set of ceramics a few months ago and today we swapped out the rear brake shoes. It got me thinking that most people just don’t know enough about brakes so I thought I’d share some knowledge with everyone.

Brake Fluid Needs to Be Checked Often

It is normal for a car to lose brake fluid as the pads and shoes wear down over time. Brake fluid is also very absorbent, it sucks up moisture and contaminants like a sponge. Check your brake fluid levels often, and bleed your braking system anytime you change pads or shoes.

Front Brakes Do 70% Of The Work

On most cars the front brakes will need to be replaced more often than the rear because they do most of the work. Check your front brake pads anytime you rotate the tires, or do a service on your rear brakes.

Brake Drums Are Irritating

Our training car has front disc and rear drum brakes, like many other small cars. Working on the front brakes is a piece of cake compared to the rear brakes. Drum brakes are sealed so all the important parts are inside, which means you must remove the wheel and the drum housing to inspect them.

That is all for tonight! Keep your brakes in good shape because they are the only thing separating you from the rear bumper of the car in front of you!

The California DMV has released the on-line version of the new 2009 Driver Handbook. Download a copy by clicking here.

Here is an excerpt, taken from the New Laws for 2009 section:

No-Texting Law Effective January 1, 2009

• Drivers may not use a wireless communications device to write, send, or read text-based communications, while driving a motor vehicle.

Administrative Per Se (APS) Zero Tolerance Law Effective January 1, 2009
• It is unlawful for a person who is on probation for a DUI offense tooperate a motor vehicle at any time with a BAC of 0.01% or greater. Violation(s) of the law will result in a 1-year suspension of your driving privilege. Refusal or failure to complete a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) or chemical test while on probation will result in a 2-year revocation of your driving privilege. Two or more prior DUI convictions within ten years will result in a 3-year revocation of your driving privilege. You will not get a restricted license for any of the above violations.

Effective July 1, 2009
• If you have a prior DUI conviction(s) and are convicted of driving with a suspended driver license, you will be required to install an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) for up to three years depending on your driving record.

Important
• Many Californians are choosing bicycling as an alternative mode of trans-portation. Bicycling is beneficial in reducing both smog emissions and gasoline usage. It is environmentally sound and increases physical health. Both bicyclists and motorists must follow the rules of the road and follow safe driving practices. Motorists should be especially watchful for bicyclists to ensure every ones safety.

I wanted to let everyone know that Josh and I will be in Calabasas, CA this weekend for the DSAC board meeting and continuing education seminar.

Q. What is the DSAC?
A. Driving School Association of California.

Q. What do they do?
A. It is a non profit organization designed to bring together driving schools from all over California, to work together to improve driver education and behind the wheel training for the public.

We are proud to be involved with organizations that strive to increase high standards for the driving school industry. At these meetings we discuss things like up and coming legislation, and how it affects our students.

I also enjoy the opportunity to meet driving instructors from all over California. Driving schools are very alike in some ways, and very different in others. Every instructor has their own style of teaching, and this is an opportunity to gather and compare notes. We also host a variety of guest speakers from the CHP, to DMV drive test examiners.

Plus it’s always a hoot to see so many student driver cars in one parking lot. =)

Josh and I noticed that last week when the temperature dropped, so did the pressure in our tires. In both our personal, and the driving school cars we have a feature that alerts us when the tire pressure gets low. We found it interesting that after a cold night, both cars sensors indicated that our pressure was low. After some inspection, we found that all four tires on each car were about 5lbs below optimum level. Coincidence? We think not.

With the fuel crisis, and the economy, we have been hearing numerous warnings from experts about how proper tire pressure will not only extend the life of your tires, but improve fuel mileage too! This pressure sensor indicator is a relatively new feature, that many people don’t have. You may not even be aware that anything is wrong… How many people regularly check the tire pressure any way?

At Drive Happy we strive to provide the highest quality of service at a reasonable price. We know that a few extra minutes at the gas station, is one of the cheapest ways to keep your car in tip top condition. Most gas stations offer free air to customers, you just need to ask, the cashier will give you a code to punch in, or tell you the location of a button to turn it on. A tire pressure gage can be purchased anywhere, even the dollar store! Some gas stations even have one attached to the air pump! Check out local your station, and the surrounding, to see who is the most accommodating.

As much as you spend on gas, you owe it to your self to take advantage of the perks gas stations have to offer!