Stop and Go Driving School
“I had a good experience with Stop and Go's five drive package. I had four drives including my test with Phil H, and one drive with Deborah S. Both were great. I'm a slightly nervous driver, and Phil had a relaxed attitude that allowed me to learn from my mistakes without feeling criticized. He seemed to know the exact level of instruction I needed. I disclosed some psychiatric diagnoses, and he made me feel comfortable doing so and freely discussed these matters with me without making any untoward commentary. He's very non-judgmental. This may be important to you when you're driving with someone for many hours. I'm an adult learner, but if I had a teenager of my own, I'd happily take them to Phil, especially if that teenager had any unusual or stigmatized needs. He didn't make me nervous about the test at all; it just felt like a normal drive. During every drive he was also explicitly priming me for everything I should expect on the test and what I needed to know to pass.
Deborah was also very kind and easy to learn from. It was my first time on the freeway and she got me on confidently. I was having a weird day for other reasons and found myself a little depressed during the drive, but she handled my nervousness quite gracefully. She gave me great detailed feedback in my notes.
Both instructors were excellent at explaining the rationale and potential consequences involved in any rule I should be abiding by. Both were realistic about their expectations of me as a driver with almost no experience and met me very well at my skill level. Both were also excellent at filling two hours of space with conversation. I really enjoyed talking with them. This helped me learn to filter information by its importance while driving, and also made it a more positive experience.
Stop and Go's scheduling system is a little odd, but both the front desk staff and my instructors have been helpful, and I had an easy time working around it. I've found Stop and Go's phone line to have a short average hold time.
I also took their 5-hour permit preparation class prior to taking the written permit test at the MVD. The teacher that day, Mr. Wasson, spent an inordinate amount of time going over his life history and prompting introductions from each student regarding their academic life and hobbies, plus a full line of questioning and a few jokes or anecdotes per student. I felt this could have been significantly abridged without sacrificing the intended rapport. I could be wrong but the other students did not seem enthusiastic about it from what I could discern. I wouldn't mention this problem were it not for the fact that it took about 20-25 minutes and we did not fully get through one of the teaching packets in the space of 5 hours, so he could have otherwise spent more time on that. During our break we were instructed to photograph the answer key for this packet to make up for what we had not covered. There were also some problems with the information in the packets and PowerPoint slides not being organized well.
After the class I had to thoroughly study the license manual anyway and could probably have supplemented with video-based teaching material online, but the class still made it less intimidating, and Mr. Wasson was otherwise an effective and friendly teacher. They structured some of the class around the 50 most missed questions on the permit test, which for me was the most helpful. If you have the money it's not a bad idea, but these driving lessons are not particularly affordable in the first place, so you might reconsider it if you can find an adequate free resource instead. They do award you a certificate of completion for it which may prompt some insurance companies to offer a discount for permitted drivers. If I recall correctly, mine may have saved me roughly a dollar per year, so in 60 years I will have made my money back from the class.”
