My son took Driver's Ed, and I was impressed. He learned a few 'tricks' it took me years of trial and error to discover - including how not to spin out on an icy highway. I swear those skills saved my life once, as we were driving the 401 between London and Mississauga. We'd found ourselves suddenly on a stretch of black ice under a bridge, cars stopped sideways all over the road. He'd noticed the all the brake lights too late, entered the melee way too fast, and as we careened full speed ahead towards that line of stopped vehicles, unable to brake on the ice, my life was literally passing before my eyes. But what did he do? Didn't TOUCH the brake, let off the gas, and steered over to the (very icy and narrow) shoulder/guardrail. As the car naturally slowed down, he put his blinker on to signal we needed back onto the left lane. And in two minutes, it was over. We were safe -- and being caught in a traffic jam for a while seemed pretty trivial for a change. By the time it broke up, my heartrate was back to normal. And I was VERY impressed (oh! so THAT's what they mean by defensive driving!!) He was 19, been driving for only 2 years. He wasn't even fully licensed at the time. Now, If I'd have been at the wheel that day, well, I might not be around to tell you this story today! ANd he saved himself thousands on insurance over the next few years too. So I don't think you can go wrong with Young Drivers, Marion -- although truthfully I don't know much about other driving courses.
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