Behind the Wheel Training Facts in California

Behind the wheel training is required for all new drivers in the state of California. If you are a teenager, you must complete training before taking your driving test to obtain your license. Here are some facts about behind the wheel driving school in Irvine, California.

Student Driver Facts

It is required by California law that a person under the age of 18 must complete one of the following driver’s education and training courses. 

• 25 hours of classroom instruction

This includes home study or internet training programs that must be equivalent to classroom instruction. 

• 6 hours of Behind the Wheel training

Behind the wheel training is necessary for learning how to drive in the real-life environments students will be faced with after obtaining their license. 

• 50 hours of supervised driving practice

This includes 10 hours of driving during darkness or at night.

Classroom Instruction

Videos or Movies Are Required

Driving schools in Irvine must provide at least 100 minutes of viewing time of movies or videos as part of their curriculum. 

These videos or movies must relate to the program and may contain scenes of traffic accidents. 

Time to Complete Program

The time it takes to complete a program will depend on how many hours the student attends the classes or spends with the educational material.

Behind the Wheel Driver’s Training

Six Hours of Training

The student is required by law to complete six hours of behind the wheel driving lessons that do not exceed two hours each day. Observation time does not count toward this requirement. 

Time to Complete Program

There is no law that specifies that time period between training sessions, so the time it takes will depend on the student’s schedule and how often they are behind the wheel.

Driving School Vehicles

Driving School Vehicle Type

As long as the vehicles are equipped with dual controls including an instructor foot brake and additional rearview mirror, they may be used by the Irvine driving school. 

Safety Inspection 

Training vehicles must undergo a yearly inspection to help ensure that it is safe and in proper condition. 

Insurance

Driving schools must have insurance and maintain the required bodily injury and property damage liability insurance on all training vehicles.

Driver’s Education for Overall Safety

Teens who go through Driver’s Ed are safer on the road than those who learned from mom and dad. 

A recent study done by the AAA Foundation revealed that those who take driver’s education courses are safer on the roads than those who don’t. Students who take driver’s ed are involved in fewer car crashes and score higher on their driving exam.

Tips for Choosing Driver’s Education

Choosing a driver’s education can be difficult, especially if this is the first child you will have on the road. Here are some tips to help you determine what’s right for you and your teen. 

Determine Type of Education

Classroom/Online

Classroom and online courses may be great for your teen, depending on the type of learner there are. Believe it or not, some people do learn better when in a classroom environment, so make sure you consider the type of student you know your teen to be and determine whether this environment is right for them. 

Behind the Wheel

While there are some who can learn from books, others learn by doing. One of the most effective methods of teaching someone to drive is by letting them learn in a hands-on environment. This means they will drive with an instructor and learn how to drive correctly and safely. 

Yourself 

If you’re able, you may think that you are the best person for the job when it comes to teaching your teenager how to drive. However, you have to consider that there are instructors who are trained to do the job and have techniques for teaching that you don’t. 

All of the Above

One of the best methods to learn how to drive is to have your teen learn using all of the above methods. Learning in a classroom environment is ideal when your teenager really needs to let knowledge like certain laws and what they mean sink in. The instruction they learn in a class may be invaluable. 

Likewise, a person can only learn to drive by doing. This means that along with their classroom education, your teenager will be given the opportunity to drive a car on a real road in the actual environment. This will help them learn driving techniques and how to be safe on the road when they have their license and aren’t driving with an adult. 

Next, driving with your teenager will only make them better. Practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to driving. The best way to make sure your teen’s driving is improving is to drive with them as much as possible.

Always Do Your Research

Before you enroll your teenager in any driving school, make sure that you know about that driving school. You should learn about their curriculum to make sure they will be doing everything they can do to teach your teenager how to drive safely while abiding by the law. Part of your research might include visiting the driving school and talking with a few of the instructor to learn about their teaching style and understand their success rates. 

Make sure to let them know your concerns and ask for advice for helping your teenager become the best driver they can be. Once you decide on a driving school, make sure to talk to your teenager after their first day to make sure they believe it will be a good learning environment. 

Car Break-In Prevention Tips

Having your car broken into is one of the most upsetting things that can happen to a car owner – it’s also one of the most common forms of larceny in the United States. When the “smash-and-grab” car break-in occurs, thieves take valuable items, which car owners then have to replace while dealing with costly auto repairs.

Whether or not you received car break-in prevention information at the behind the wheel driving school you attended before you received your driver’s license, brushing up on common-sense prevention tips never hurts. Below are some ways you can prevent car theft and ensure your valuables remain safe.

Keep Your Valuables Out of Sight

Car thieves are not typically criminal masterminds; they’re usually just opportunists who see something they want and take it. If you have anything of value such as a cell phone, wallet, purse, laptop, backpack, briefcase, shopping bags, cash (including loose change), and small electronics in your car be sure to keep it out of sight to deter thieves.  

Park in Crowded Areas

The last thing a thief wants is a crowd of people with cell phones watching and taking videos of them when they’re committing a break-in, so try to keep your car parked in a highly visible place like a busy parking lot.

Also, at night, try to park in a well-lit area and, if possible, choose a parking lot with an attendant over one without.

Deter Thieves with Anti-Theft Actions

The below measures can help make your car a harder target for smash-and-grab thieves:

• Never forget to lock your doors and keep the windows up when you park.
• If possible, and permitted bylaws in your area, tint your windows.
• Don’t keep valuables in a center console or glove compartment; these are places thieves always look.
• Utilize mechanisms that lock your steering wheel. It will help protect your car and alert thieves that you’ve taken extra security measures.
• Install a car alarm.
• Although car break-in thieves don’t usually take the car itself, never leave your keys in the car. It may motivate more reckless thieves to take your car.

Never Leave Your Car Running For Any Reason

During behind the wheel driving lessons driving instructors typically teach their students never to leave a car running, and although it can be tempting to leave your car on when you’re just heading quickly into a store – this is valuable advice that should never be ignored.

No matter if it’s from a driving school in Irvine or Los Angeles, a driving defense training course, or it’s on a pamphlet from your auto insurance provider, never ignore safety information. It could mean the difference between keeping your valuables safe and having your car broken into.

How to Ace Your Driving Test

Taking your driver’s test can be stressful. However, with some skill and preparation like taking behind the wheel driving lessons, you can learn to pass your driver’s test with flying colors.

If you’re gearing up to get behind the wheel for your driver’s test, have a look below to learn tips and techniques that ensure you’ll go home as a licensed driver. 

Get Plenty of Practice Behind the Wheel

CA requires at least 50 hours of driving practice. However, there’s no reason why you can’t get more driving practice before your exam. Your behind the wheel driving school will give you the valuable hours you need with a professional to learn the rights and wrongs of driving. However, your permit will allow you the ability to drive with a parent or adult so that you can get the necessary practice to ace your test. 

If you are a new driver, make sure to attend driving school in Irvine to learn the necessary skills you’ll need to practice at home. If you take the time to continue to improve your driving skills, you’ll feel more confident and have a greater chance of success when you go to take your driving test.

Follow These Tips To Avoid Making Common Mistakes

Your Irvine driving school will teach you driving techniques, laws, and safety tips that will help you stay safe on the road and pass your road test. Check out these tips to make sure you are always driving to the best of your ability.

• Refrain from wide turns: Be sure to stay in your lane and follow through in your lane on turns.
• Watch for limit lines: Make sure you don’t cross over or get too close to road designations at intersections, etc.
• Come to a complete stop: Don’t ever roll to a slow speed and then keep going through a stop sign. A good habit is to wait three seconds and then continue.
• Always look over your shoulder: Never forget to check for traffic. Look shoulder to shoulder, especially when making left turns and check your mirrors.
• Follow the speed limit: Keep a watch for how fast you’re driving at all times.
• Hold a safe distance: Make sure you have at least two car lengths between you and the car in front of you.

Calm Your Nerves

Because driver’s test routes are located relatively close to the DMV, you can practice driving around on the roads within 10 or so miles from your local DMV to help calm your anxieties before your driving exam. 

Most seasoned driving instructors agree, the best remedy for nerves before a driving test is to get as much practice as possible. If you could use more driving practice, buckle up and get back behind the wheel because the more confident you feel, the better you’ll do when test day arrives.

Avoid Road Rage, and Here are the Reasons Why

Have you ever been in a situation where you’re on the road and someone zooms past you just as you were about to make a right turn? Most of us have dealt with that situation and felt angry. It’s a fact, aggressive drivers make even the calmest people feel aggressive. Road rage happens when an aggressive or angry behavior is exhibited by drivers in order to release frustration that they feel because of other drivers Forms of road rage could be:

• Shouting at other drivers
• Rude gestures
• Threats
• Becoming an aggressive driver yourself

In your California driving school courses, you will learn about road rage and how to avoid it. Road rage can often lead to altercations and even collisions. While many people will experience road rage in their driving career, it is never acceptable. Here’s why you should avoid road rage.

Distractions

Road rage is a distraction of its own. Drivers who engage in road will find themselves distracted. However you show frustration, whether it’s tweeting angrily or shouting out of your window, you’re taking your eye off the goal of remaining focused and safe.

A Leading Cause of Accidents

Road rage is a leading cause of accidents because you are distracted. Accidents are more prone to happen when you give into road rage. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), around 94 percent of driver errors are the main causes of accidents, and among them, 33 percent is linked to errors made during road rage behaviors such as swerving and illegal maneuvering.

Other drivers on the road will make errors and do things that will make tensions high, but you can prevent accidents by taking a deep breath and focusing on your safe driving techniques you learned at Irvine driving school.

Injuries

Road rage can be a direct cause of injury. Drivers who lose their temper are more likely to get aggressive when driving, especially if they are driving near the person who caused them to get angry. Because when you let yourself give into road rage, you yourself become the aggressive one, you are more likely to cause an injury, even if it is accidental.

Creating Perpetrators

When you engage in road rage, you are influencing another driver to do the same. Think of it like a chain reaction, one bad driver will turn you into a bad driver if you let them. Then, your behavior will influence another aggressive driver. By inciting rage, you are setting a negative example and you will be the cause for even more unsafe driving and accidents.

You never want your behavior to put other drivers or yourself at risk for an accident or injury, so make sure to calm yourself and not engage in the negative and risky behaviors associated with road rage.

It’s the Law

Road rage can escalate to a more serious driving crime, so make sure to avoid it no matter what another driver has done to upset you. While getting angry isn’t against the law, negative behavior while operating a vehicle is. Road rage is an endangerment of public safety and can be charged as aggressive driving. If incidents escalate, you can even be charged with vehicular homicide or intentional harm.

Want to learn more about road rage and how to avoid it? Take classes at your teen driving school in California.

Facts about Provisional Driver’s License You Should Know

Once you’ve passed the DMV Driver’s Permit Test, you’ll be excited to start driving. Now that you have been issued your provisional driver’s license, you will have a few restrictions on your driving ability. A provisional driver’s license means that you are under 18 and at least 15 1/2 years of age and an inexperienced driver. Because of this, safety is a big concern for yourself, your family members, and other drivers that you share the road with. Here are a few facts about your provisional driver’s license that you should know.

Must Obey Traffic Laws

This one is obvious as all drivers must obey traffic laws, but as an inexperienced driver, you should be careful and remember the lessons your driving school in Irvine taught you. Obeying the traffic laws will help keep you safe as they were put in place to ensure the safety of all drivers and pedestrians on the road.

Drive Without a Collision

While this is your goal, you should avoid collisions as often as possible with your provisional license. If you do experience a car accident, you run the risk of losing your permit and may even have to go back for an additional driving course. You’ve put the work into learning how to drive properly, so doing so will help you prevent accidents and allow you to hold onto your provisional license.

Must Drive With Parent/Guardian or Adult

With your provisional license, you must drive with a parent, guardian, or an adult over the age of 25. This is so that you can continue to learn to drive outside of the classroom. With an adult nearby, you’ll easily avoid accidents and ensure that you’re continuing to learn without traditional instruction. You are never allowed to drive alone. A parent or adult must be with you at all times while you are behind the wheel or else you run the risk of losing your permit. The adults you drive with must also have a valid California driver license to ensure that they know how to drive safely and can teach you to do the same.

Must Hold Permit for Six Months

In order to take your driving test and get your driver’s license, you’ll need to have your permit for at least six months. This ensures that you have taken the time to practice driving and gotten enough experience so that when the time comes to drive on your own, you’re ready. You should practice with a parent or adult over the age of 25 as much as possible so that you can become more experienced with every drive. This experience is key to helping you become a better, safer driver so that your driver’s license will never be at risk of suspension and you can keep your insurance rates down as a safe driver.

Your Irvine driving school will teach you the rules of the road and help you gain experience, but it’s also important to continue to practice and learn outside of the classroom so that you can easily pass your driver’s test.

Sign up for driving courses today to get the experience you need to obtain your license.