Frequently Asked Questions​

A few definitions to help understand the DMV – Driving School Process

Driver Education – AKA (Driver Ed – Drivers Ed – Permit Class)

• 30 class hours (30 fifty minute periods) or 25 actual hours of classroom instruction. The 25-hour minimum does not include breaks or meal times. You may take Driver Education live in class, online or homestudy as long as it is an approved coarse. Driversity offers live classes and online

Driver Training – AKA (Driving Lessons – Behind-The-Wheel Training)

• 6 hours of Behind-The-Wheel training is required for a minor to obtain their license. Driversity has two formats. (4) 1.5 hour lessons OR (3) 2.0 hour lessons. Either meets the 6 hour minimum requirement

Provisional License

• When a driver is under the age of 18 they are issued a Provisional License. There is a parent or guardian that has signed for their license taking financial responsibility for liability occurring from any collision involving the minor

Permit

• The first step in obtaining a license. A driving permit allows the student to practice driving with a licensed driver

DRIVER EDUCATION: Any person who applies for a driver license over the age of 15 1/2 but under the age of 17 1/2 must have completed a driver education course.
At 17 1/2 years of age you may apply for a driver license without taking a driver education course but you have to wait till the age of 18 to obtain your license.

DRIVER TRAINING: Any person who wishes to obtain their driver license over the age of 16 but under the age of 18 must have completed both a driver education course and driver training.

To make this easy to understand… If you want your license before 18 then YES, you need driver education and driver training lessons.

Here are the basic steps to obtain a driver license if you are under 18 years of age (provisional license)

• Take an approved driver education course
• Be a minimum of 15 1/2 years of age and apply for your driver license at DMV
  • You will take a vision and knowledge test at the time of the application. 46 multiple choice questions, you can miss 8 or less
  • When you pass the test DMV will issue an instruction permit
• Your provisional instruction permit has some restrictions
  • Your permit is not valid until you have your first driving lesson. The driving school will validate your permit
  • You can only drive with a California licensed driver age 25 or older and sitting in a position to help control the vehicle
• You are required to have held your permit for a minimum of 6 months before you can get your license
• You are required to complete 50 hours of supervised driving practice with a parent or guardian. 10 of those hours must be at night
• You are required to complete 6 hours of driver training with a driving school

When you have met all the requirements, you can take the driving test at DMV. When you pass you will be a licensed driver.

Driver Education and Driver Training Lessons used to be taught in school. While some schools still have a Driver Ed course, they do not conduct driving lessons anymore. The reasoning is based on a few factors. Here are the two main factors.

The first being the cost. The vehicles, maintenance, instructors, fuel and most of all insurance is costly. The schools have a hard time justifying the cost in their budget. The insurance alone is expensive.

The second and more important reason is teen driving statistics. Driving is the leading cause of death for teens. You can see the statistics here on the NHTSA website. Most of the time the schools had the PE teacher substitute as the Driving Instructor. While that worked, it was not the most effective. As Driving Schools took the lead, teen traffic injuries and fatalities dropped. Driving Schools are better trained, have more experience and Driving Instructors are tested every few years by the DMV to requalify.

Driversity Driving School takes teen driving serious! We DO NOT cut corners. We want you to have the best education because this can have epic repercussions. We use the best equipment, maintenance schedules that exceed vehicle manufacture or DMV standards and train our Instructors to the highest standards. Can you find less expensive Driver Education or Driver Training Lessons… Probably. With any school you can go Ivy League for success or take your chances on a cheap school.

Some Of The Differences Between Driving Schools:

• Vehicles

  • We use newer Honda Civics and constantly update our fleet. Why?… Safety! Check the NHTSA crash ratings here. Honda Civics are 5 star across the board. Could we get cheaper cars?… Of course but why would we jeopardize your safety?
  • Our maintenance schedules exceeds Honda requirements and blows DMV standards away. DMV has minimal standards. You can see their inspection sheet here. They require an inspection once a year. With as much time Driving Schools are on the road, a lot can happen in a year. Some schools cut corners on maintenance to save money.
  • Our cars are maintained and repaired with factory Honda parts only! Again… Safety and reliability

• Insurance

  • CA law requires every driver to have at minimum a liability policy covering $15,000 single injury or death, $30,000 multiple injury or death and $5,000 property damage. That is just for the damage you cause to others and you are liable for. Nothing for you.
  • Driving Schools are required to have a minimum liability policy covering $150,000 single injury or death, $300,000 multiple injury or death and $50,000 property damage. You can see the DMV Driving School insurance standards here
  • Some schools meet the minimum requirements to get licensed. Do you want your student with someone that just meets the minimum requirements?
  • Driversity has full coverage multi million dollar policies to cover all aspects of loss. Why?… Safety and security for our students.

• Instructors

  • Driversity holds their instructors to the highest standards. We give them the best training and tools to do the job right.
  • With todays technology our instructors have the information they need at their fingertips. Our student information is securely stored online so the instructors can get the information they need instantly. Each instructor has access to notes in the student records so we can tailor each lesson to the students needs.
  • Driversity has instructors that have been with us for almost 20 years. If you want experienced, safe instructors… We have them!
  • Driversity does pay their instructors more than the industry standard. Driversity wants excellent long term instructors for the best education the students can get.

If you want all aspects of safety and education then Driversity is the Driving School for you. If you want to just meet the minimums then lets hope you don’t become a statistic.

No. Most of our students have NEVER driven a car before. Do not be nervous. Don’t worry about making mistakes. You are going to make mistakes, we are there to keep you from having a collision. The instructors will never put you in over your head or have you do impossible things. We actually want to go home at the end of the day also 🙂

This depends on the individual, as every student has different abilities, needs, levels of experience and different opportunities to practice. Be aware of anyone who “quotes” a number of lessons over the phone as it is impossible, without first assessing your current skill levels. Once one of our Driving Instructors have assessed your current skill level, ability and have ascertained how much practice you can obtain between lessons, we will be able to provide you with an accurate estimate.

We can tell you most students will find that 6 hours of driving lessons is sufficient. 6 hours ONLY works if you practice driving frequently. Driving is a perishable skill. If you do not practice often between lessons you may find the 6 hours is not enough.

No.  DMV regulations clearly state that driver training cannot exceed two hours per day.  

The short answer is two, the student and the instructor.

Driver training lessons used to be conducted at school with as many people they could fit into the car and usually taught by the gym teacher. Now we have private lessons with highly trained licensed driving instructors. The education the students receive is better and the statistics prove that. One aspect that is not practiced but was effective is driving observation. Watching an instructor explain driving techniques while driving is very educational from a spectators standpoint.

While the lessons conducted are private lessons, every once in a while there could be an additional person in the car. Here is a brief explanation why

• Another student in the vehicle
  • Once in a while there may be another student in the vehicle for 10-15 minutes. They may have just finished up a lesson and are in the vehicle during the appointment transition
• Additional Instructor
  • Driversity has instructors ride along and observe other instructors at times. We all may have the same lesson plan and goals to achieve with the students, we do have different teaching techniques. This helps the instructors conduct more efficient lessons
• Parents
  • We do let parents ride along and observe if they like. Parents can see our teaching style and topics to further practice with the students. The only thing we ask is the parents remain quiet and just observe. Students do have a tendency to be nervous when their parents are in the car but the parents are usually worse.

Driversity does not mark their cars with STUDENT DRIVER for a safety measure. With this diverse driving environment we live in we often run into other drivers who are lacking in skill, judgement, patience, morals, class… shall I go on?

When some drivers see STUDENT DRIVER or DRIVING SCHOOL they purposely tailgate, honk, pass dangerously, brake check and more. Even when our students may not be blending in with other traffic they still don’t really stand out. Other drivers generally do not give them a second thought and just go about their way.

Our cars do say Driversity on them. There are no huge signs and logos like a rolling billboard. We put Driversity on them for an identifier as we do pick students up from school. It gives students a way to find us. You are paying for a lesson NOT to drive around and advertise our business.

Yes our cars have an extra brake for the instructor to use. We do not have to use it a lot but it is like a life insurance policy… It is there when we need it!

The short answer is no, we do not provide that service.

• Any experience with DMV and you will learn that you can’t predict how long your appointment will take. Even with an appointment it can take 20 minutes or 4 hours. It is too hard to schedule our vehicles and instructors for drive test appointments
• While we have some of the best driving school insurance you could obtain, there are restrictions
  • We are insured to conduct driving lessons and driving assessments
  • Driving school insurance is not car rental insurance
  • Insurance companies generally will not cover any car rentals to minors
• Car rentals would require different state and local licensing and insurance
• Driversity strictly adheres to all rules and regulations to keep everyone safe at all times

Throughout the whole driving process you will need to book appointments. It is not uncommon to see DMV booked over a month in advance for appointments. Office visit appointments are generally not as booked out as Behind-The-Wheel test appointments.

Driversity can generally get you an appointment within 3-4 days. We periodically have cancellations and can book you sooner. Around holidays and school breaks we can get booked a week or two in advance. Always try to plan ahead so we can accommodate the day and time you prefer.

Here is a short list of appointments you will have to schedule.

You need to schedule appointments for:

• Driving school for a live driver education class
  • You can register for a live class at Driversity. Click Here
• DMV for your license application / written test
  • You can make an appointment with DMV online. Choose “Office Visit” for the written test. Click Here
• Driving school for driver training lessons
  • You can register for driving lessons at Driversity. Click Here
• DMV for your driving test
  • You can make an appointment with DMV online. Choose “Behind-The-Wheel” for your driving test. Click Here

If you need to reschedule your appointment… No Problem! Please try to cancel at least 24 hours before the appointment.

Driversity does have a cancellation policy and a missed appointment or “No Show” policy.

Driversity conducts private lessons for each student. When you book an appointment, you reserved that instructor and the driver training vehicle for the scheduled time. If you cancel at the last minute or do not show for your appointment those resources were still reserved for you.

Here is our policy:

• If you cancel within 24 hours and at least 30 minutes prior to your appointment there is a $25 cancellation fee
  • You must speak to an office administrator
  • If it is a weekend, you need to send an email and/or notify the instructor prior to the lesson
• If you cancel within 30 minutes of your appointment time OR you forgot about the appointment and you “No Show” there is a $50 missed appointment fee
  • If you have missed an appointment, the No Show fee must be paid prior to booking additional lessons
  • If you have multiple No SHow and/or late cancellations, you will be required to prepay your tuition for your lessons

Completion certificates are issued upon completion of driver education and or driver training. The certificates that are issued are original certificates with serial numbers, assigned and logged to each student. DMV will not accept copies and the driving school does not keep copies.

If you need a new certificate there is a $25 reissue fee. The fee is to offset the cost of the administrations time to pull student records, void prior issued certificates, issue new certificates, update student records and update DMV issuance logs.

Some people find that automatic cars are easier to drive as they don’t have a clutch pedal to operate. It is common for a novice driver to learn to drive in an automatic vehicle until they are relatively confident and safe on the roads. When they feel ready they switch over to manual. Some people get their licence in an automatic, build up their confidence and then later transition to a manual.

Driversity only conducts lessons in automatic transmission vehicles. We get students for such a short amount of time that we would rather focus the students attention to defensive driving skills and overall safe driving practices.

Driversity only offers courses for Class “C” drivers.

For motorcycles or Class “M” licenses you can take the courses through the California Highway Patrol. Click Here

For trucks or Class “A” licenses you can take courses through many schools available. Your best solution is to search “Truck Driving School” on a search engine.