Excellence in Safety and Skills

When students are well-taught, passing the drive test is a by-product

Cindy has been teaching private driving lessons to beginners in California since 2001, and has taught well over 10,000 lessons to teens and adults. Trained by master teacher Ken Cornelius of Ojai, California, Cindy takes driving instruction seriously. Each of the instructors at this professional driving school have been personally trained by her for consistency and excellence. The instructor’s own confidence is what puts the students at ease during the private driving lessons. With thorough instruction and behind-the-wheel experience, we love to see the excitement at the end of the lesson! Her goal is a student that can be safe and ready in any city, any situation.

DMV CERTIFIED

Our instructors and our training cars are all licensed, and certified by the DMV, and insured for training.

CITIES

We teach in Solvang, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, Five Cities, and San Luis Obispo.

INTERNATIONAL ADULT LESSONS

We especially enjoy teaching beginners and first-time adults from other nations to drive safely and skillfully.

SHOPPING?

Look for patient instructors that love people, love teens, love to teach and give you the most for your time.

Driving Stats
to Keep in Mind

Avoid becoming a statistic by learning how to drive safely with Cindy’s Driving School.

“Look over your right shoulder” means to look out the backseat window. Ignoring this is where the phrase “car that came from nowhere” comes from.

Do you know the four bases of a right-turn intersection scan? And where the “catcher” is positioned? When you see the limit line over the hood of the car, do you know how far away it is from the front bumper of your car?

Should you count to three when the light turns green, or look far enough to the left and right to see a car that is three seconds away? Do you know the eight blind spots in and around your car? Have you been taught to “stay out of the bike lane” and avoid it when you make a right turn? You may be surprised to hear that things have changed.

Two most common ways to be disqualified on the drive test right now are: “The applicant failed to enter the bike lane before making his right turns” and “The applicant did not look over his shoulder for a bike before entering the bike lane.”

When you are driving under the speed limit, even when you have just turned a corner or pulled away from the curb, your collision zone can be viewed in your rearview mirror.

When you’re coming up to a stop sign, permission to press on the brake comes from your rearview mirror. The rule for yellow lights is “stop when it’s safe.” Permission to stop comes from your rearview mirror. Don’t stop if you’re being tailgated.

Parents coaching their teens will benefit from a baby rearview mirror, placed by suction cup, just to the right of the regular rearview mirror.

When you have completed a turn, check your rearview mirror. Who would have thought? Try it and start counting the accidents you avoid.

Prevent rear-ending another car by keeping a three second space cushion if you’re vigilant. Generally four to six seconds will prevent those accidents altogether. Keeping only a two-second cushion can result in a hit.

Most senior citizens will fail their senior drive test before taking a lesson, even if they’ve never had a ticket or accident. To have your license temporarily withdrawn by the DMV is a tormenting nightmare for seniors. Much sleep is lost while waiting for the drive test.

The only way to have the driving examiner respond favorably to you is to perform all of the skills completely up to par.

Studying the DMV materials is helpful, but the seniors also need a refresher course behind the wheel, not only because things have changed, but because the expected way how to perform a skill is not completely written in the DMV materials.

Staying inside for too long, such as for weeks or months, can dull your driving skills. Patient, understanding, and respectful driving instruction is given to get you back on the road.

TEXT CINDY AT 1.805.260.1922 TO LEARN MORE