Teen BTW FAQ

At the minimum, our course takes 4 months to complete. High schoolers lead fast-paced, busy lives. They often have far more than just their academics about which to worry, whether they’re involved in sports, choir, drama, afterschool clubs, etc. The urge to finish driver’s education as quickly as possible is understandable, but inconsistent with our philosophy. We educate over a thousand students per year and have been doing so for long enough to know what works. As professionals in this trade, we understand that learning the skill of safe driving is an endeavor that takes consistent effort, patience, and time.

If a student enrolled in an English literature course that lasted only two months, would they remember the plot of Moby Dick for the rest of their lives? If they took a month-long seminar in volleyball, would they be qualified to play at a professional level? If they took lessons in acting for only a couple weeks, could they then expect to play the lead in a major movie blockbuster? If they sped through a driver’s education course as quickly as possible, could they be considered safe and confident drivers for the rest of their lives?

Driving, like any other learned, lifelong skill, takes extended intention and masterful instruction. Our instructors are often busy because they are the best. Our program takes the amount of time it does because we want our students to succeed. Our classes are not simply another bothersome hurdle on the way to an insurance discount, but rather, a sound investment in a young driver’s lifelong safety behind-the-wheel.

Driving, like any other learned, lifelong skill, takes extended intention and masterful instruction. Our instructors are often busy because they are the best. Our program takes the amount of time it does because we want our students to succeed. Our classes are not simply another bothersome hurdle on the way to an insurance discount, but rather, a sound investment in a young driver’s lifelong safety behind-the-wheel.

After we have created drive appointments in our scheduling system for your term, we will activate your online account. You will receive an email with your login credentials. You may start scheduling at that time. This usually occurs a few days before class starts.

All our instructors are DMV certified and have a minimum of 80 hours of training through Western Oregon University. They receive annual ongoing training and recertification.

The teen program is designed to be a comprehensive training for young drivers to become safe, competent drivers for life. It includes classroom and behind-the-wheel training and must be completed within ODOT’s regulations.

Private lessons are one-on-one behind-the-wheel lessons. They can be tailored to the specific needs of the student rather than following the ODOT curriculum. We do highly recommend that teens go through the full Teen Program, but private lessons are a good option for students who are extremely busy.

We recommend enrolling students early in their driving experience. Approximately 10 hours of practice before their first lesson.

We have found that students learn best when they are given an opportunity to practice between lessons.

Our lesson plans are designed to progress from simple to complex driving environments. We do not progress to the next level until the student is ready.

Throughout the process our instructors maintain a calm disposition and always remain in control.

All our vehicles are equipped with a dual control brake and instructor mirrors. Instructors are also trained to take over the wheel in an emergency.

We cannot always guarantee you will get the same instructor for every lesson, but this can be requested, and we will do our best to accommodate.

Students have up to 180 days from the first day of class to complete their classroom time and BTW lessons.

ODOT requires concurrent instruction between the classroom sessions and BTW lessons.

Failure to complete all class time and drives will result in the loss of the $210 discount. You will be responsible for this balance.

ODOT requires that students have the classroom material that will be covered in each driving lesson presented to them in class before they have that lesson. The classroom material for the 5th driving lesson is presented on the last 2 days of class. Therefore, the 5th and 6th driving lesson should occur after the last day of class.

If your student does not pass the final drive assessment, they will not get their certificate. Students can retake the assessment for $65 per retake. The student must pass the assessment within 180 days form the first day of class.

We provide the vehicle equipped with a dual control brake for safety and instructor mirrors for safety. All vehicles have automatic transmission, four doors and air-conditioning.

Our staff is available to provide assistance. Please be sure to let us know early in the process if you are having difficulty so we can ensure your success.

In the terms and conditions, we explain that any drive lesson that is cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice will incur a fee of $75.00, and any drive cancelled with less than 4 hours’ notice will incur a fee of $150.00.

Late cancellations not only impact the instructor they affect another family because students are scheduled in pairs.

Since we are pairing students together for their teen drives there is not room for the parents to ride along. However, if you add private lessons, you are welcome to ride quietly in the backseat and observe.

No. The state does not allow us to take students on the test routes prior to licensing.

We cancel drives if weather conditions warrant it. You will be notified as early as possible if it becomes necessary to do this. We make decisions about weather related cancellations specific to each location. We will reschedule drives in areas impacted by snow or ice.

Generally, in Oregon rain is not considered an extreme weather condition unless it leads to widespread flooding.

ODOT requires the first drive be between the 4th and 10th hour of classroom. 

Additional drives should be scheduled after that in about 2-week intervals with lots of practice in between.

At least the last two drives should be scheduled after classroom is complete to ensure all class information has been presented before the lesson occurs in the vehicle.

There is not guarantee that lessons will be on the weekend. It will depend on availability. We do offer weekend lessons, but there are not enough hours of weekend lessons available to guarantee that all students will get to schedule on the weekend.

Lessons occur outside of classroom time and can be scheduled online or over the phone with the office. We give a minimum of two weeks in between each drive lesson so that students can practice the new material they’ve learned in between lessons.

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