It creeps on everyone, almost without exception. One minute, you’re just married, in your 20s with a new baby, and somehow, while you were blinking, you’re in your late 30s that baby is now in high school and bugging you about wanting to get a license to drive. How did this happen? Why do phones suddenly do all the things that your computer, video camera, and CD player used to do? Why are people on the Internet so horrible now?
We don’t have the answers to any of these questions. Time is like a cruel, mysterious freeloading friend from college who surprises you with how much the fridge gets emptied after a visit. But, time aside, we do have an answer to one important question. Your kid wants to drive and is now old enough to do it. What do you do next?
As with so many things in your kid’s life since you’ve been raising him or her, the answer boils down to this; education, education, and more education. It’s time for even more school. Driving school.
Why This Matters
Back in the day, you might have gone to a driving school yourself when you were learning to drive. Or maybe you didn’t, and you have horror stories about late-night practice sessions in a parking lot, grinding a manual gearshift car into a mess with every poorly timed switch of the gears. Whichever way it is that you learned to drive, one thing is for sure; the way they do it now has a lot more options than what you had, and for your kid—and the people that will be sharing the road with your kid—this is a Good Thing.
Even if you did go to driving school when you were younger, the way schools work now, and even the things your teen will have to deal with on the road are very different. When you first learned to drive, the only real danger other drivers presented was if someone was drunk and on the road. Today, people regularly get into accidents through no fault of their own because someone else thought taking a picture to post on Twitter had to happen RIGHT NOW, even though it was in the middle of high-speed traffic.
In as little as four years, people in some states may have to face the idea of sharing the road with vehicles that drive themselves. Truck convoys in the state of Florida are already being tested this way, so it’s another big difference between what you learned when you were of age and what your teenager is facing.
Making The Right Choice
There are two things you’re going to need to consider when it comes to a teen driving school program; theory and practice. Practice is something that you’re going to have to look at locally as far as options go, and you’ll want to make sure this is done carefully. After all, putting your teen behind the wheel and making sure that he or she picks up good driving habits, doesn’t accumulate bad ones, and learns to drive both defensively and with awareness are all important. Even if you’re already the proud owner of a Tesla car with some semi-autonomous driving capabilities, this does not mean your teen doesn’t need to learn to drive. A man in Florida has already died because he trusted his Tesla to do the driving for him, and it couldn’t tell the difference between a white sky and a white truck, sending the man straight into the trailer of a vehicle in front of him. Lesson here? Driving skills STILL matter, so make sure your actual driving component is solid.
On the theory side, however, you’ve got a lot more options.
Driving theory is something that can be done online now. In a lot of ways, an online driving school might actually be the better choice. You don’t have to worry about arranging your teen’s schedule to make room for the class sessions, you don’t have to worry about transport to and from a physical building, and your teen can take the material at his or her own pace, complete with videos and interactive lessons depending on the course you take.
Picking A School
Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got the best online driving schools around the country listed here. We take the time to personally attend and evaluate each course to ensure that quality education is exactly what you get when you pay for it. You have a lot of different choices. If your teen is more of the scholarly type that can inhale information quickly, there are pretty efficient schools to handle that temperament. If your teen needs a bit more encouragement and something to provoke interest, there are even comedic driving schools that spice up the theory with some jokes.
To help you make the difficult decision of entrusting your teen to an online driver’s ed school, here are the factors to consider:
- States approved: Keep in mind that different states will have their unique DMV regulations on online driving schools. Make sure that the school of your choice is recognized and approved in your state. Otherwise, your online hours will not be credited.
- Years of operation: One indication that the school of your choice is a thriving business is through their years of operation. It will be better to enroll in a school that has been around for 5 years.
- Better Business Bureau: Check out schools that have at least an A or A+ on the Better Business Bureau. From there, you can also check some customer reviews and read about user experience on course curriculum, study tools, features, customer support, and pricing.
- Payment and Guarantees: Since you will be paying online, make sure that the school has a credible payment method. It will be best to enroll in a school with a money-back guarantee. Some schools, like DriverEdtoGo, will have a 100% satisfaction guarantee or get your money-back guarantee.
- Mobile Application: Another useful feature to check is if the courses are 100% online and mobile-friendly. We recommend Aceable for their dedicated mobile application complete with interactive learning tools.
- Free Certificate of Completion: Make sure that the online driving school has fast processing of your certificate of completion. We recommend Driversed.com for reliable delivery of certificates.
- 24/7 Customer and technical support: Schools like iDriveSafely offer reliable 24/7 customer support through phone. Other convenient communication methods are through live chat or email.
- No hidden fees: Make sure to check that there are no hidden fees when it comes to certificate filing, unlimited test retakes, and court reminders. Improv Traffic offers all these features with their base rate.
Whatever choice you ultimately end up making, the important thing is to make sure the school you’re interested in offers driving courses that are relevant—and recognized—by your state. If you live in one of the bigger states like California, Texas, or Florida, a lot of these schools are available to you. But if you live in a smaller state like Rhode Island, you may have to sort through your options more carefully. You need to make sure your state’s traffic laws are covered by the school you’re looking at. This is especially true for insurance purposes, as proof of driving school attendance can be an important factor in lowering insurance rates. This is going to be especially important for a new driver since rates tend to be understandably high when looking at someone with no prior driving history.
Take the time to look at the all online driving schools, read each review carefully, and see how what each school offers aligns with what you think your teen needs. That’s the best way to make this choice.