My students drive better then licensed drivers

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Greg Kovacevich

The goal of our 5 Star Driver videos is to help families be the best drivers on the road today. When parents watch the video series with their young drivers they become better teachers and their kids become skilled drivers. Case in point, look at these wiped out car photos I took recently while on a driving lesson with a 16 year old student. We drove by a auto body shop that I go by on a weekly basis with students and this was the new collection of crashed vehicles from the previous New Years Holiday weekend. I had the student pull over and we got out to look and take pictures. The young driver was shocked how bad the damage was and wondered if lives were lost. As I have blogged about before being a so called “licensed driver” means nothing. Most people pass it off that wrecks are because of drunk drivers or speeding or distracted driving but those are easy excuses. I blog about how they are shoving self driving cars down our throats. Wake up public! Part of Making America Great Again is putting better more skilled drivers on the road so the auto body shops and ambulance companies and chiropractors and lawyers don’t benefit everyday from this type of carnage.

Traffic-related deaths are on the rise in 2016

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Greg Kovacevich

The link below is a story blaming the tech use in our cars on the uptick in traffic deaths for the first six months of 2016. Yes the narcissistic use of electronic devices while driving has become an epidemic in the U.S. but wait there’s more to the story. The lack of true knowledge and skill as it relates to driving has diminished in the last 20 years. At the same time the millennial generation is getting in the car with tunnel vision issues like no other generation before. The 8 to 15 hours a day spent looking at some type of screen coupled with the lack of physical activity throughout their childhood creates a tunnel visioned driver with bad reflexes. As a licensed driving instructor I am getting 3 out of 10 students in the car who say they have never ridden a bicycle in their entire lives. This is a real hindrance to driving as no natural scanning or right of way issues have been developed. They lack a proper knowledge of knowing where trouble can come from while at the same time not scanning properly to even see it in time. Add the mind numbed drivers all around us that have their eyes down while texting, Facebook posting or face timing while driving and it adds a more dangerous statistic to driving in our modern era than drunk drivers. F.Y.I. the drunkards are still out there. From my perspective being in a car teaching 8 hours a day I see more grown women on their phones and devices more than anyone else. I had a student recently share with me that it really irked him that both his parents text constantly while driving, saying they admonish him “don’t do this we have been driving for years”. Well this instructor of real skills driving techniques had to address this so when I was done for the day I texted the mother and shared her son’s frustration and said that in this arena walking the walk is the best teacher. To her credit she thanked me for the correspondence and admitted fault and said she would discuss the situation with her husband.

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/11/15/report-traffic-deaths-rise-due-tech-distractions/

DMV has “dummified” America

Posted on January 15, 2016 by 5sd_blog-ops

A driving student of mine sent me this email after a few driving lessons and he was shocked how bad people drive: Hi Greg, this is Isaac. I have to write a speech for a class and I have chosen to write it on how the dmv has “dummified” America. I just wanted some of your insight. What are the top 5 problems with the way the DMV currently operates?

Hey Isaac, I am happy you are taking this subject on with your speech.

#1 problem is the current drive test for people of any age is often no longer then ten minutes long. There is no real requirement to show a persons driving ability and skill. Many of the required elements of drive tests in years gone past are no longer required like a 3 point turn, parallel parking, making a u-turn to name a few. My two children never had to make a lane change on their drive tests.

#2 problem is the Graduated Licensing Program that the DMV instituted a number of years ago requires that parents of young drivers under 18 years of age put in 50 hours of additional driving over and above the 6 hours required by a driving school. To verify that the parents had done the required 50 hours the DMV has a log sheet form on their website that is required to be filled out by the parents and turned in at the time of the drive test. Stupid thing is the DMV never asks to see the 50 hour driving log sheet. They do not implement the required elements of their own program. As a side note parents are a big part of the problem because most do not do near enough additional practice driving with their kids and the DMV let’s them get away with it.

#3 problem is after the age of 18 a California resident can literally take the permit test and drive test on the same day. None of the requirements of a 151/2 to 171/2 year old apply, to have the permit for 6 months before taking the drive test or having 6 hours of lessons by a driving school or to do the additional hours of driving with parents. So the result is that many people are waiting until they are a bit older and fast tracking the whole process as the word is out that a knucklehead can pass the current drive test. These people get their license and get out there with no real knowledge or skill and become a crash statistic adding to the cost for everyone else.

#4 The DMV does very little supervision of the driving school industry. Most schools get business by offering “cheap lessons” and that is what the public gets. Many schools do what is called piggy backing. This is where they pick up multiple students at the same time and each driver spends only a portion of their two hour sessions actually driving. This is specifically forbidden in the guidelines that are spelled out in the owner/operator agreement that all licensed schools enter into with the DMV. Problem is the DMV does no oversight of the schools practices and teaching methods. I had a 16 year old student who had gone to one of the many “cheap driving schools” and the instructor smoked cigarettes in the car with the student. This is against the law and the mother was livid only to be told by the DMV to fill out the complaint form on the DMV website. She did and after three months she had no response from the powers that be and that driving school is still opereating.

#5 The state of California is currently allowing millions of illegal aliens to get their drivers license. The AB60 law passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Govenor Jerry Brown took effect in January 2015. The knowledge and road sign test these people take is in their language. Big problem is that once they are out in traffic the signs are all in English. There is a good chance that a few months later a foreign speaking recently licensed driver will not recall what the YIELD sign means. As a licensed driving instructor I can see everyday that more and more drivers do not know the right-of-way laws. This causes road rage, crashes and sadly injury and death.

So ridiculous and getting worse. The car companies keep adding air bags and the big push is to have all driveres insured. All good but there is no action plan to limit the crashes and make drivers skilled enough to stay out of the crash. I have implemented a superior video driver training program that helps parents and their kids learn real skillful defensive driving. It is available at www.5StarDriver.com. Please share and get the word out that the public must not count on the driving school industry and the licensing agencies to make their loved ones safe out there, 5StarDriver.com puts the tools in peoples hands to be in control of their own destiny.

Take care Isaac,

Greg

About 5 Star Driver

Posted on October 28, 2015 by 5sd_blog-ops

The Purpose of the 5 Star Driver Training Video Course

The first reported traffic accident in the United States occurred in Ohio in 1895 when there were but two cars in the entire state, they met and one driver was killed. With the myriad of driver safety programs deluging our society today, why are traffic accidents still maiming and killing hundreds of Americans on a daily basis?
As an expert since 1984 in the field of driver training (over 10,000 clients personally trained), I have discovered and created a brand new defensive driver training methodology that when understood and applied properly, can greatly reduce accidents and save lives. Many years ago, I began to invite parents to ride along in the backseat while I taught their new driver the Cullington Driving Concepts TM. The results were amazing. Virtually every parent commented they would have taught their new driver the exact opposite of the way I was teaching and to my surprise, these parents began looking forward to practicing with their new drivers. I noticed a drastic improvement in the amount and quality of parental driving practice received by the new driver in-between my scheduled driving lessons, a pattern I’d never seen before.
This 5 Star Driver Training Video Course was specifically designed to empower parents with advanced driver training strategies, helping to prevent their children from becoming a traffic accident statistic. Driving is the #1 killer of teenagers and has been for over 70 years so how can anyone claim that the current driver education and State driver’s licensing industry is a competent industry? It isn’t. The truth is, the current driver education industry is broken and young drivers are most at risk.
The current driver education and training providers primarily focus on teaching rules, regulations, and proper behaviors. These are all important aspects of driving but by no means do they complete the training process. What is missing? A viable driver training methodology that really works along with advanced defensive driving strategies.
Let’s form an analogy with the game of Chess. If a person learns all of the rules and regulations associated with the game of Chess, does that mean they’re automatically going to be proficient? Certainly not. Knowing the rules of Chess and knowing how to strategically play the game are quite different. Knowing the strategies of Chess is a vital component of playing the game proficiently.
The same occurs with learning how to drive. Driving rules and regulations along with driving behaviors are both vital components of driving. What’s missing is the understanding and application of advanced defensive driving strategies both from the Parent Driving Instructor as well as the student. This 5 Star Driver program provides both the parent and the new driver with a brand new defensive driver training methodology designed specifically to prevent accidents and is the missing link needed to create a strategically knowledgeable driver.
The #1 Safety Feature you can put in a car is a driver that fully understands and applies the advanced defensive driving strategies found in the Cullington Driving Concepts ®. Taking the necessary time and effort to fully understand the information presented in this course will help to reap a lifetime of safe driving strategies for both you and your new driver.
Sincerely,
John Cullington
Originator of the Cullington Driving Concepts ®

Driving the # 1 killer of teens? No it is now 18 – 20 year olds

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Greg Kovacevich

I had an interesting conversation with a 19 year old driving student recently. While I was looking at his permit he said that he was confused and then angry by what was said when the DMV personnel handed him his permit a few days earlier. The man asked my student if he was going to now take his drive test. He responded: “how can I do that I just received my permit to drive?” The answer was “well a lot of people do.” My student said “but how would a person know how to drive yet?” The DMV representative explained that people drive illegally with family members and then take their written test and try and pass the drive test the same day. To my 19 yr. old young drivers credit he told him “that is stupid and only because you folks allow it.” I agree, so true and so wrong in many ways.

This absurd practice for licensing young adult drivers would explain the rise in death by a few years due to driving. The Graduated Licensing Program instituted years ago by the Department of Transportation does not apply to anyone above 18 years old. Passing the permit test and then having to wait 6 months before taking the drive test does not apply. Having a minimum of 6 hours of behind the wheel training with a driving school does not apply. Putting in an additional 50 hours of driving practice with a licensed 25 years of age or older teacher does not apply. Then the 18, 19, 20, year old takes the Dumber Than a 5th Grader 10 minute drive test to be licensed to drive. This ignorant driver is now licensed to cut me off in traffic, tailgate me up to a red light, not yield to me while entering a roundabout and dent my car as they park next to me at the shopping mall or much much worse.

So much of what is wrong with the way things have become is due to the governmental agencies tasked with making things smart and safe doing just the opposite. Our motivation in producing the high quality 5 Star Driver videos is to push past the cheap driving schools and the D.M.V.,” Department of Mental Vacancy” to put parents in charge of their children’s driver training. Take the time with your kid’s over a sixth month training period, watch the videos together from start to finish. The accelerated learning curve is remarkable! People can listen to the video testimonials on our www.5stardriver.com website of 5 Star Driver users, parents and their kids, to hear real driving success stories. The ultimate goal being to have young adults break through the grim statistics when it comes to their early years of driving. So important at a time when driving has become a greater challenge than ever before.

Real behind the wheel training vs NOT

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Greg Kovacevich

This is the look of stress brought on by parents who often have no idea on how to do real behind the wheel training with their kids. Click on this short video to see what took place between this dad and daughter. [videojs width=”560″ height=”315″ preload=”true” youtube=”https://youtu.be/Koq47HWL7SU”]

Knowing how to drive and teaching it are two completely different things. The person tasked with teaching a loved one or friend to drive whether it be a parent or grandparent or college roommate has a lot to risk in this endeavor. Their own safety, the safety of the new driver and often times it is their vehicle that is open to damage if things go badly. As a licensed driving instructor I once had a teenager who by the time I was hired to do his behind the wheel training had crashed through his garage door after taking a little drive through their neighborhood with his mom. He then panicked after hitting the garage door and mashed the gas pedal and proceeded to go through the back wall into their kitchen. Nobody drove with the young man for a year. After a year his Uncle said he could get him driving and took a try at it. He crashed into a fire hydrant while making a turn two blocks from their house. Then they decided to hire a professional. Lucky for them they hired an instructor trained in the Cullington Driving Concepts®, which is a new superior way to avoid the pitfalls where parents point out the problem instead of the answer. Look at this cartoon video that is spot on with what has been wrong with our behind the wheel training since the beginning. [videojs width=”560″ height=”315″ preload=”true” youtube=”https://youtu.be/bIvmrJBwcps”]

When teaching someone to drive, mentioning where you don’t want them to take the car is the biggest mistake. By saying, “You’re heading towards the only other car in the parking lot” you focus the driver’s eyes and or attention on that object and many times this is how the unhappy episode begins. Our www.5StarDriver.com program has eleven hours of video showing all types of driving situations with new drivers using effective dialogue and instructions that guarantees accelerated success. This results in less frustration and stress between the behind the wheel student and teacher. Here is a clip of proper dialogue that works. [videojs width=”560″ height=”315″ preload=”true” youtube=”https://youtu.be/bwaW12JkZ-A”]

The Creating A 5 Star Driver Beyond Drivers Ed® program is the most effective video driver training available for parents and their new drivers. It was developed to get parents much more involved in the important task of behind the wheel training with their kid’s. The experts @ 5 Star Driver were tired of the never ending statistics of young drivers passing a 10 minute drive test and soon becoming a driving statistic. Parents have put too much faith in cheap driving schools that don’t teach much. Parents also have good intentions on getting in the needed practice time with their children but most often do not. They hope that their kids will be ok out there. At the end they think, well they passed the drive test they must be ready. Parents must know that the DMV drive test has been reduced to a lame example of a person’s true driving ability. Please know my own two children on their drive tests were never asked to make a lane change, didn’t show that they could do a U-turn or never even had to do a 3 point turn. My son made only right turns on his 8 minute drive route. My daughter was angry how easy her drive test was. She knew I had trained her to be a 5 Star Driver and was wanting a real drive test. Parents please get serious about your children’s behind the wheel training.

5StarDriver

Creating A 5 Star Driver Beyond Drivers Ed ®

Category Archives: Parents