A monumental moment in most teens’ lives is when they receive a black and white paper license to signify they can finally hit the road solo. But the question is, with all the craziness that’s been 2020, how does one go about getting their driving education safely?
The pitstop for all aspiring drivers should be Granite State Driving School. Granite State Driving has years of knowledge for teaching young, inexperienced roadists.
“Granite State Driving School has been in business since 2003,” David Beninati, instructor and owner of Granite State Driving School, said. “We have created a great network of friends that not only include the students but also the parents.”
To ensure all students safety along with their own staff, Granite State has adopted all of the CDC guidelines recommended to them. All classes are conducted over Zoom with certified instructors and other students.
“COVID-19 has caused us to become creative and incorporate the use of technology in our classroom,” Beninati said. “The students are all engaged with the lessons and have group work to do together. The program does maintain the highest standards to ensure the students are learning the material as they are guided through the program.”
Along with conducting lessons virtually, Granite State Driving has adopted all CDC guidelines and recommendations for in person driving lessons.
“The cars were always kept clean and disinfected,” Shannon Hynes, a sophomore and former Granite State Driving student, said. “The classes were also very informative, I learned so much before driving which made me much more confident.”
Granite State provides in-depth lessons to help students realize the dangers of driving. To better understand every driving scenario, the school makes sure to incorporate a variety of different areas to get a good feel for driving in unexpected situations.
“I learned all about different scenarios, how to drive on uneven or bumpy roads, roundabouts, highways, and so much more,” Hynes said. “In the ten hours I got with an instructor I learned so much.”
Granite State teaches almost everything a beginning driver should know. Without the knowledge provided during driving education, beginner drivers wouldn’t have the tools to deal with unexpected scenarios while driving solo.
“The importance of Driver Education is tremendous,” Beninati said. “Younger drivers commonly have a false sense of confidence in their driving ability. This is expected and our teachers explain in class how that may be dangerous.”
Even though some students may have a false sense of confidence, other drivers can be on the opposite spectrum. Granite State offers private lessons for the most anxious individuals. Students of Granite State Driving have sung the tune of complete ease when driving with the instructors.
“My best experience [with] Granite State is [that] my instructor didn’t make me nervous when driving, which really helped me learn when driving in different areas I wasn’t familiar with,” Jessica Bolduc, a sophomore who took Granite State Driving lessons between August and September, said.
The school’s thoughts are to prepare every student who walks through their doors to not only be ready for the driving test but to ensure they remember their lessons for every driving experience afterward.
“Granite State Driving helped me to prepare for the drivers test and helped prepare me for a lot of different driving situations that could occur when driving,” Bolduc said.
One of the only ways to be truly prepared is to get behind the wheel and practice. This is when times like drivers ed become incredibly important. Without schools like Granite State, beginner drivers would never be prepared or experienced enough to drive on New Hampshire roadways.
“The lesson of ‘Being Prepared for the Unexpected’ is more effectively taught as the student is behind the wheel and someone on the road does something unexpected,” Beninati said. “Driver Education not only provides the knowledge needed but also the basic skills to operate a motor vehicle safely.”
