- How old must I be to start
a driver education program?
- When can I get a driver’s
license?
- What is a learner’s permit
and how do I get one?
- Can I start a driver’s
education program before I get a learner’s permit?
- Are there any limitations
about where or when I can drive with a learner’s permit?
- How does RIDGEFIELD
DRIVING SCHOOL arrange the classroom hours?
- How are road training
sessions scheduled?
- Why can’t all students be
picked up from their home for the on-road portion of the course?
- Do I have to know how to
drive when I start road training?
- How can I apply for a
license test?
- When should I apply for a
license test?
How old
must I be to start a driver education program?
You must be 16 years old to
begin any driver education program.
When can I get a
driver’s license?
In order to obtain a driver’s license a
student must have completed a full program of driver’s education
(30 classroom hours and 8 hours on-road) and had a learner’s
permit for at least 4 months.
- OR -
You must have completed a 8-hour classroom program on safe driving
practices and had a learner’s permit for at least 6 months.
What is a learner’s
permit and how do I get one?
All new drivers in Connecticut under the age of 18 must
obtain a learner’s permit before they can practice driving on the road.
You can get a permit from the DMV or through RIDGEFIELD DRIVING SCHOOL.
If you wish to get your permit through us, call us to arrange
this. The fee for getting a permit through our facility is $60.00.
To obtain a permit you must:
- Be at least 16 years old
- Pay the permit fee
- Pass vision test and written test on
laws
When you apply for the learner’s
permit you must bring with you all of the documentation currently
required for licensing. In addition to the required fee:
- Have a certified birth
certificate and one other form of identification. See the DMV
law manual for acceptable forms of ID. (School ID is NOT one.)
- Show proof of residency. This
can be some mail received by applicant at their home address.
(P.O. Box addresses will not be accepted).
- Parental consent is required. If
someone other than a parent accompanies the student, a notarized
parental consent form is required. A notarized parental consent
form is always required when getting a permit through the
driving school.
- Bring a photograph of yourself.
This is for identification purposes, so you cannot be wearing a
hat or sunglasses in the photograph. You do not get this photo
back.
- Have your social security
number. (If you are using your signed Social Security card as
one form of identification, the card cannot be laminated.)
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If a student takes a full program of driver’s
education, a learner’s permit must be held for a minimum of 120
days before the applicant can take the road test. Without
driver’s ed, the required period for a learner’s permit is 180 days.
A certified driver education course consists of THIRTY
HOURS of classroom instruction, plus EIGHT HOURS of on-the-road
training.
Practice on the road without a learner’s permit is
illegal.
No one who has held a learner’s permit for less than
60 days may practice on limited access highways. (30 days with a
certified instructor.)
Can I
start a driver’s education program before I get a learner’s permit?
You can attend our one-hour orientation
session before you get your learner’s permit, but you cannot begin
classroom work until you obtain a learner’s permit.
Are there any limitations about where or
when I can drive with a learner’s permit?
You are not able to drive on limited access roads (Route 84,
Route 95, Merritt Parkway) until you have held your permit for 60 days
unless you are with a professional instructor. With a licensed instructor,
you can go on the expressway after you have had a permit for 30 days.
How does RIDGEFIELD DRIVING SCHOOL
arrange the classroom hours?
Our schedule is designed to provide quite a bit of
flexibility for our students. We have classroom hours available five days a
week.
We meet Monday through Thursday from 7:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
and Saturday morning from 9:00 until noon.
We assign a student a starting date (generally Mondays at 6:00), but once a
student has begun the program, classroom sessions do not have to be
consecutive.
A student is welcome to attend all* hours on any given
week, or none, depending on what their schedule can accommodate. Missing
classes never interrupts the progression through the program, nor do missed
classes result in repetition of material.
Our students work through a very structured program
consisting of textbook, workbook, tests, and videos. There is much work to
get through, but the student is able to work at their own pace.
* State law limits the number of classroom
hours a student can attend on any one day. On a day when public schools are
in session, a student can do no more than 2 hours of driver’s education
classroom, and on a day when schools are not in session, the limit is 2.5
hours.
How are road training sessions scheduled?
On-road training begins after the student has
finished four chapters of classroom material.
For the road instruction, the student is taught on our
vehicle. (Four door, automatic transmission). Ridgefield students
are picked up from home or school for the road training. For students who
live outside of Ridgefield, pick-up from home will depend on how far away
from the instructional area the student lives. Road lessons are individual.
The student does not share the car with other students. The lesson is one
student, an instructor, and a specific lesson plan for the session.
The eight hours of road training are spread over five
training sessions. Four sessions last for 1 ½ hours and the final lesson is
2 hours.
Each session will cover a different aspect of driving and a
detailed summary of the lesson will be issued at the end of the training
session so that parents can see what skills were covered and how practice at
home should proceed.
Remember, your road training starts AFTER you have completed
four chapters of classroom theory. That does not mean that if you finish
Chapter 4 on Tuesday, that we will have you on the road on Wednesday. The
start of your road instruction will depend on how many students are already
in the rotation and how available you are.
Why can’t all students be picked up from
their home for the on-road portion of the course?
When we take a student out on the road, we have a specific
lesson plan to cover and specific goals to meet. We have 1 ½ hours in which
to accomplish the goals that we set. If we have to spend 40 minutes of that
lesson driving the student back and forth from their home, too much
instructional time is lost.
Do I have to know how to drive when I
start road training?
Students start road training with us at varying levels of
experience. Some have never sat behind the wheel before, others have
practiced for months with their parents. We will adjust our instruction
accordingly. The more physical comfort level the student has with the car,
the more they will get out of the road instruction. Our instruction is going
to emphasize decision-making skills.
How can I apply for a license test?
In our program, students schedule their own test at the DMV.
You can schedule a test for any DMV at any DMV. Scheduling the test in
person is the most efficient way of making the appointment. We provide a
test appointment application during the first classroom session, but the
forms are readily available at any DMV.
When should I apply for a license test?
After you have held your permit for 2 months, the DMV will
allow you to schedule an exam. Be certain that the test date is at least 120
days from the time your permit was issued.
If you schedule an exam before you have finished your driver
education program, please realize that it is your obligation to be certain
that all of the course requirements will be completed by the test date.
Once we start your road training, we will be consistent with
your instruction, but we never guarantee that we can give you more than one
road training session per week. So, plan on five weeks to complete road
training.
