Sunday, May 31, 2015 | 2 a.m.
Driving instructor Cathy Dillwith’s student was flooring the gas, racing the car toward a red light at a busy intersection. He’d gotten the pedals mixed up.
Tips for new drivers
■ Give them space
Don’t ride anyone’s bumper and don’t drive right next to another vehicle. Ample spacing gives you time to react if anything goes haywire.
■ The lines aren’t your guide
Those little yellow bumps and white dashes? They aren’t there to guide you; they’re there to divide you.
Don’t get stuck staring at the lines or the bumper of the car in front of you. Look 12 seconds ahead, toward the horizon and the center of the lane. It’ll help you stay centered.
■ Check your blind spot
Mirrors don’t capture everything. Turn your head and check your blind spot before you merge or change lanes.
■ The car goes where you look
Look where you want to go, and the car will follow. When parking, don’t focus on the white lines on the ground or the cars nearby, but rather the top center of the parking spot.
■ Take it easy
Stay calm, start slowly and don’t move onto highway driving or parking until you’re ready.
Dillwith floored her instructor-side brake, shouting at him, “Stop, stop, stop.”
As the car reached the intersection, Dillwith grabbed the wheel and jerked it left, spinning the vehicle almost 180 degrees so it faced oncoming traffic.
The incident, which ended without a crash, was the most terrifying in Dillwith’s 17-year career as a driving instructor.
Learning how to drive can be scary for everyone involved. Dillwith’s job is to make it a little less so by teaching new drivers the right techniques.
“Everyone who has been driving a while has bad habits and shortcuts,” Dillwith said. “The best thing is to get a student with an instructor first, before the bad habits can be formed.”
Dillwith owns Professional Driving Academy, a DMV-certified school off West Flamingo Road and South Torrey Pines Drive. It offers behind-the-wheel training, picking up students from their homes, taking them for drives, then dropping them back off.
Dillwith started the school in 2003 after six years of being an instructor. She found her calling after teaching her own two children how to drive.
“My son was more nervous than I was,” Dillwith said. “I realized I had enough patience to do this.”
And for teachers, patience is key.
Getting your teen on the road
These requirements are for drivers younger than 18 who have never had a full driver’s license.
For drivers older than 18 or for new Nevada residents who have had a license in another state, requirements differ.
Step 1: The permit
Teens can get a driver’s permit at age 15 1/2. They must have it for at least six months to be eligible for a driver’s license.
Requirements:
■ Vision test
■ Drivers must have 20/40 vision or better in one eye. If a driver needs glasses to pass the eye test, a restriction will be put on his or her license requiring glasses or contacts to be worn while driving.
■ Written test
The initial test costs $25; each retake costs $10. It includes 50 multiple-choice questions taken from the Nevada Driver’s Handbook covering highway signs and markings, traffic laws and safe driving practices. A score of 80 percent or higher passes.
Restrictions:
■ Teens must show proof of school attendance, signed by a school official, to receive a driver’s license. Habitual truants also can have thier permits or licenses suspended.
■ Permit driving must be supervised by a licensed driver who is 21 years or older, has at least one year of licensed driving experience and is sitting in the passenger’s seat.
Tips for teachers
■ Start at home
A driver’s first lesson should take place somewhere comfortable, such as in his or her neighborhood. Speed limits in residential areas generally are slow, and the student knows the territory.
■ It’s a marathon, not a sprint
Don’t rush the lessons. Start with neighborhood drives, move to low-speed-limit streets — preferably under 35 miles per hour — then graduate to higher speed limits, busier intersections, lane changes and highways.
■ Parking? Not so fast
Parking should be the final lesson in a student’s driving education. It’s one of the toughest skills to master.
Pro tip: Draw diagrams. Hook turns can be elusive.
■ Splurge on a professional
Long-time drivers carry bad habits — rolling through stop signs, not checking blind spots and forgetting to scan for pedestrians.
Professional teachers guide your student the right way, and the cost could be offset by insurance deductions. Prices vary, but lessons generally cost $60-plus an hour.
Step 2: The license
Nevadans can get a driver’s license at age 16.
How it works
Driver’s education can be completed online, in a classroom at a DMV-licensed driving school or at a public or private high school. Courses are 30 hours, but some professional driving schools offer 15/5 courses: 15 hours of classroom education plus five hours of drive time. Every hour in a vehicle with an instructor counts for three.
Requirements
■ Driver’s ed
■ Teens must complete an online or classroom course from a DMV-licensed school. If a classroom course isn’t offered within a 30-mile radius of the student’s home and the student doesn’t want to complete an online course, he or she can substitute the education requirement with an additional 50 hours of behind-the-wheel experience.
■ Behind-the-wheel experience
■ Young drivers must log 50 hours of behind-the-wheel experience under the supervision of a licensed driver who is at least 21 years old, has been licensed for at least one year and is seated in the passenger’s seat. Ten of those hours must be after dark.
■ On-the-road test
■ A skills test must be scheduled online or by phone at 702-486-4368. Applicants should bring a parent or guardian, instruction permit, driving log, proof of identity, and vehicle with registration and insurance. The fee is $22.25.
■ No crashes or violations
■ Any at-fault crash or moving violation that occurred in the six months before applying for a license means no license.
■ No substance abuse
■ Drug or alcohol convictions in the six months before applying also bar applicants.
Restrictions
■ For the first six months after being licensed, young drivers can’t drive anyone younger than 18 unless those passengers are immediate relatives.
■ No driving is allowed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless the teen is traveling to or from approved events such as work or school.
Visit dmvnv.com/dlschoolsprd.htm for a list of DMV-certified driving schools.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy