Be careful. Those are the words I utter every time my daughter, Sara, leaves the house ever since she obtained her driver’s license at the age of 16. Allowing your child to drive is one of the most nerve-wracking milestones of parenthood. Yet knowing that she was guided by the expertise of AAA Driver Training provides peace of mind. And the fact that she earned a perfect score on her road test is a testament to the program. I sat down with Sara to get a teen’s firsthand perspective.

Q: Tell us about the experience that you had with driver training at AAA – was it valuable?

A: My experience was positive. And it was nice to get input from someone other than a family member on how to drive. I did one lesson a week and I thought it was the perfect amount.

Q: How was the road test?

A: I didn’t feel underprepared when it came time for my road test. For me, I liked going to the road test with my instructor rather than with one of my parents because it was just a different level of calmness, and I wasn’t as nervous.

Q: Have you had to use any skills from AAA driver training in real-life experiences on the road?

A: I definitely have to use skills that my instructor, Mr. Paul, taught me. We practiced the safety aspect of learning how to drive. Having those facts in the back of my mind helped me while I’m focusing on driving. I see so many people blow through yellow lights, and I know that’s not a safe thing to do because you never know what’s coming from a different direction.

Q: Did your instructor talk to you about distracted driving?

A: When I got in the car for each lesson with my instructor, I would always put my phone down and I still do because distracted driving is something that people don’t realize is a bigger issue. They think, “Oh, I can drive and look at my phone at the same time.”

Q: And how do you think you managed to get a 100 on the road test? Do you think that was because of the help of the program?

A: Going through driver training absolutely helped me get 100 on my road test because I learned how to parallel park completely through AAA, and I have never had an easier learning experience.

Let AAA help get them ready through our Driver Training and Education programs, including the 5- hour pre-licensing course. Get started at AAA.com/DriverTrainingSummer.

AAA Driver Training