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/

How To Avoid Deadly Red Light Runners-like this one recently in Fresno, CA

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Greg Kovacevich

FRIENDS SPEAK OUT AFTER WOMAN KILLED IN FRESNO CRASH

Kelly Phetxoumphone, 23, was a passenger in her friend’s car when another car slammed into them at Palm and Ashlan early Sunday, killing her. (KFSN)

Watch local news story here
In the article below you can see that the driver who killed this beautiful young lady ran a red light. A term often used by police is a “dead red” which means it has been red for a long time. Our Creating A 5 Star Driver video series has a lesson on avoiding this type of t-bone crash that is becoming all too common. The lesson is titled Traffic Checking at Green Lights Because People are Running the Reds. It is a valuable lesson filmed in the training car with students demonstrating when to traffic check at all intersections and how that can avoid this type of tragedy.

By Sontaya Rose

Monday, March 28, 2016

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) —

Kelly Phetxoumphone, 23, was a passenger in her friend’s car when another car slammed into them at Palm and Ashlan early Sunday, killing her.
A scene of colorful balloons, pictures and candles sit on the corner where a fun night with friends ended in sirens and Phetxoumphone never making it home.
Sreyjet Choun was driving right behind her sister-in-law and friend that night.
“It’s my spring break and I go to UC Irvine so we always hang out together,” Choun said. “She was like my sister and it was like the last words she said was come follow us.”
They were heading to a friends house when California Highway Patrol officers say 21-year-old Lawrence Walker III didn’t stop at the red light.
“I was calling 911 knowing that, I told myself, she’ll be fine, she’ll be fine but I know she wouldn’t because I saw what happened,” Choun said. “That guy, he didn’t brake at all, he didn’t swerve at all. He just went straight.”
Another longtime friend, says Kelly’s positive attitude and warm smile were her greatest traits. “I still can’t believe it,” Kelly’s friend Solida Lain said. “It feels so unreal. It still hurts, it’s really shocking, and tragic.”
Kelly worked to support her family at a local restaurant. Now, her boyfriend of eight years is left with four young kids to raise without her.

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.

Video Drivers Training Works Because Parents Are A Big Part Of The Problem

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Greg Kovacevich

In California a provisional license issued to a teenager requires that a parent has done a minimum of 50 hours of driving with their kids. Only 17 percent of parents even do the 50 hours. In an exit survey at various DMV’s throughout California three years after the Graduated Licensing program was instituted by the Department of Transportation 17% of parents admitted they did the required hours. The DMV heralded this GLP as the answer to preparing the next generation of drivers for the challenges of modern day traffic. Yea well not so much, it is all based on the honor system that by signing the youths permit as a promissory verification the parent had their child ready to be an educated skilled driver.

The Video Drivers Training contained in the Creating A 5 Star Driver Beyond Drivers Ed program puts valuable tools in front of parents and their young drivers. This helps to assure that the important additional drive time in real traffic conditions takes place on a regular basis. The common yelling episodes of behind the wheel time with parents and their kids is not conducive to serious training. The challenges of driving are greater than ever before and parents are dropping the ball when it comes to being driver trainers for their children. The video lessons give an insight to new drivers with their parents on what to expect before all elements of driving happen. Each video lesson progresses in so the proper knowledge and skills are in place as more challenging driving situations present themselves. The lessons were filmed with five in car cameras on actual driving lessons and teach the proper dialogue and training techniques that brings success. This greatly reduces stress in the car for everyone involved.

The driving experts of the 5StarDriver.com program after years of working in the driving school industry determined that parents were not comfortable putting in the necessary time training their kids to drive. So instead of opening up hundreds of top rate driving schools, which are in short supply, we developed this first of its kind Video Driver Training program that we offer to the entire nation. Through our website www.5StarDriver.com we sell our complete driving course on DVD which includes our question and answer manuals. Also offered is our monthly video subscription of the entire course accessible 24/7 anywhere internet is available.

It is well beyond time for a program that can raise the standard of America’s drivers training. The cheap driving schools don’t teach, parents don’t spend near enough time in the car with their kids and the D.M.V. drive test averages 10 minutes. The Video Drivers Training lessons through the 5 Star Driver program empower parents to teach driving the way it was supposed to be.

Why 5 Star Driver Is The Best Online Drivers Education Program

Posted on July 31, 2015 by 5sd_blog-ops

5 Star Driver Is The Best Online Drivers Education Program because teenagers do not retain the important information when taking their Drivers Education program. Whether they take an online Drivers Ed course or participate in classroom instruction doesn’t seem to matter. They just want their instructional permit and unfortunately the way of modern day learning is to retain the information until tested on said information and then move on. This results in not internalizing the imperative knowledge. That wouldn’t have dangerous consequences when learning about say the French Revolution of 1789 to 1799 in high school. It is a whole different potentially deadly ramification when it comes to the right of way issues at an uncontrolled left turn at a major intersection.

The 5 Star Driver video training program shows real life drivers education on actual behind the wheel lessons. The visual aspect of what the written words mean taught in a traditional drivers education course come to life making the information impactful and memorable. In the Creating A 5 Star Driver Beyond Drivers Ed® on line subscription service all aspects of driving are shown with new drivers. They learn the real skill of defensive driving as well as the rules and laws while driving in neighborhoods, busy streets and intersections, highways, mountains, freeways and in hectic downtown areas.

An extra huge benefit to having a subscription @ 5stardriver.com is that parents can watch as well and learn how to have great success with their new drivers. Parents also learn the proper application of the rules to stay safe on the highways and byways and not just share the sloppy many times incorrect driving habits they have developed. A true win/win for young drivers and their parents, making more 5 Star Drivers out there.

5StarDriver

Creating A 5 Star Driver Beyond Drivers Ed ®

Category Archives: Teenage Drivers