Home - Syllabus

Session #3

This session is one hour and forty-five minutes in length. It is very important that the driver have at least 15 hours of practice before this session. We will go to the freeway and if time permits it, downtown Sacramento. (Placerville and Auburn Foothill area students will have a heavy freeway traffic experience. The distance from those areas make it time prohibitive to get all the way to downtown Sacramento.) We have a designated route that we take downtown that is very educational and a challenge for the learning driver, and frightening for the inexperienced driver. With the proper practice time behind them, they come away from this session with very good experience and confidence. Without the practice time, students come away never wanting to go on the freeway and downtown again, and getting very little benefit from the class.

When entering the freeway on-ramp, we work on a controlled entrance around the curve and good smooth acceleration, then merge to the traffic flow. We then exit and re-enter at a long on-ramp. We exit and re-enter at a shorter on-ramp which requires quick acceleration and estimating traffic flow and enter point. We then head for downtown Sacramento on the Capital City Freeway and Highway 160. Downtown we have a designated route that we follow. It requires good observation and caution driving around one way streets, busses, pedestrians, bikes, and general downtown traffic.

If time permits, we will get into Old Sacramento (foot traffic, horses, and uncontrolled intersections), alleys (caution at doorways, sidewalks, and speed control), dual and single turn lanes. We will explain how the streets work, numbered in one direction, lettered in the other, then give the student a destination to take us to. They will have to deal with the traffic, one way streets, pedestrians, and other elements as well as determine street signs and how to get to the destination. Students find this fun and a challenge. Note: Some instructors, because of the student's residence or pick-up point geographical area or time of day, will use alternate highways, freeways and cities.

Our watchful eye makes certain that they do not do any improper moves or endanger us. Many students do find themselves ready to turn the wrong way on a one way street, or fail to see a signal light or stop sign before interrupted by the instructor. It is a good driving experience. In our twenty years of instruction, we have driven over a million miles with students and have never caused an accident.

The student's safety and the safety of others are always first. That is another reason for the designated routes that we follow. The instructor knows every inch of the road and where to expect problems. We do not just drive around with the student. Our routes are designed to expose them to different situations and make them realize the hazards. We take the exact same routes with each student. We do the exact same sessions every time. The only time we vary is if the practice level does not allow for our normal route. In which case, the benefit from the session is lost. Practice is the most important part of getting a license.

Session #2 Session #4