When researching driving schools it is easy to assume that if a driving class is only scheduled 2 weeks then your student will receive their permit in 2 weeks. This is almost always false. I have been browsing through many of the driver education schools here in Boise. One particular driving school offered a classroom option that would take only 2 weeks. This sounds great right? You might think you only have to pick up and drop off your student 10 times (2-4 times with UltraSafe). First of all it will be more like 11 times because your student will probably drive on a Saturday. But most importantly your student will not get their permit in 2 weeks. If the classroom has only 15 students (some schools cram almost 30 students into a classroom), then 90 hours of driving is required for all 15 students to receive their permit in 2 weeks (each student completes 6 hours of driving). Keep in mind the classroom portion of the course is 30 hours. So for a 2 week course this means 15 hours per week (3 hrs per day) must be in the classroom. So basically the driving school must somehow complete 120 hours of total instruction into 2 weeks for all 15 students to receive their permits. This is why schools do not say "Get your permit in 2 weeks". Even with perfect scheduling and no cancellations it would be nearly impossible for 10 students to all get their permit in 2 weeks. 10 students would mean a total of 60 hours driving and 30 hours of classroom. What I am trying to explain is that if you sign up your student in a school that already has at least 10 students enrolled it will probably take up to 6 weeks for your student to receive their permit. In fact, your student will probably complete the classroom portion much sooner than they complete the driving portion.
UPDATE 1/22/18: Reviewing a competitors website I noticed a big gap between classes. In the description it mention a 2 1/2 week course. Yet, after the last class of a course the next course did not start until 2-3 weeks later. Why is there a gap? Because It takes time to get all the student driving finished. So it will actually take 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 weeks to earn the permit. With Ultrasafe, after you go to the DMV the entire process should take 3 1/2 weeks MAX! (Here's the math.....Within 5 days after the DMV we have a meeting, then 5 to 7 days after that the student works on driversed.com, then within 10 of that we will complete all the drives. Many times the entire process has taken less than 2 weeks total!)
A safety issue is raised with this information. If 3 hours per evening is allocated for classroom instruction how are driving school able to keep enrolling lots of kids when there is no time for driving? One answer is driving schools catch up during slow times. But another answer is especially long driving on Saturdays and Sundays. Some instructors actually spend 10 to 16 hours in their drivers ed cars trying to get students caught up. Yes some instructors actually spend 10 - 16 consecutive hours in their cars with no breaks!! Not even long-haul truckers do this. This is not safe. There no laws regarding how long drivers ed teachers can spend in their vehicles. What I am trying to explain here is that if you sign up your student in a driving school that has already enrolled at least 10 students, and there are 4 or less instructors, your child might be unsafe in the drivers education vehicle. No matter how tough instructors think they are, it is very possible to get mentally exhausted. I only teach a total of 8 hours per day and I take a 2 hour break somewhere in that 8 hours. I only drive 2 students per week during the school year and the classroom is online - so it isn't hard to do 12 hours of driving in one week. This is why it is true that almost 90% of students receive their permits in 1 to 2 weeks with UltraSafe.
