Although it’s possible to survive in the modern world without knowing how to drive, it isn’t advisable. Unless you live in a place like Manhattan, where everything is accessible either by foot, subway, or the occasional taxicab, you need to drive to reach shopping centers, grocery stores, doctors’ offices, restaurants, movie theaters—just about any place you need to go that isn’t within a few blocks of your house. And if you don’t already know how to drive, you’ll want to go to driving school and learn.
Fortunately, driving schools are very common, and a driving school education isn’t terribly expensive unless you’re living on a small fixed income. Still, you don’t want to go to the first driving school that you see in the local strip mall. You’ll want to put some thought into your driving school education. Here are some tips:
Use a search engine, such as Google, to find a driving school located near you. (If you don’t have a car, you’ll probably want to find one within walking distance or at least one that’s a bus or cab ride away.) Try to find the names of several such schools. Now, start doing some research. Compare what the schools charge for a complete course that will culminate with you acquiring a driver’s license from your local department of motor vehicles.
But, don’t assume that the cheapest driving school is necessarily the one that you want to go to. Often, it’s the other way around. You may get the best and most reliable education from the school that charges the most (or at least a school that charges more than the cost of a fast-food meal). Use the same search engine that you used to find the school to find comments from students who have used the school. Look at sites like Yelp that compile consumer opinions and see what people are saying about their driving education and how they feel about the school.
Of course, such comments should be taken with a grain of salt. Disgruntled driving school customers are more likely to post comments on the Internet than satisfied customers, and it’s possible that the customers who complain the most loudly simply had an unusually bad experience that isn’t likely to be repeated. So, look for common experiences shared by many different customers. If several former students had exactly the same bad experience with the school, pay attention. This may indicate a genuine problem and a reason to avoid using that school’s services.
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