We wish to share our experience in working with the I-5 Driving School to other parents who are not…read moreonly concerned about getting a quality driving education for their first child but also to establish a positive lifelong learning experience with the institution for their future driver education needs.
We enrolled our oldest child (16 yo) in the teen class at one of the driver training schools in town. The reason for this choice was because it was located near our home. The 30-hrs class itself was fine and so were the 6-hrs road training plus 1 hr of observation. However, my child was consistently reminded during drive sessions that he could and should go a bit faster above the speed limit, i.e., 28-29 mph in a 25 mph zone but not slower than the limit to avoid folks tailgating him. After having attained nearly 50 additional hours of driving with me, he then took his first road test with the school & applied the " a bit faster" practice to the test which failed him for not observing the posted speed limit despite having attained a mid 80% score on other criteria in the test. Needless to say, we were very disappointed, especially at the end of the test, he was not briefed with details on the scoring, what he did wrong, nor how he could do better. He was given the scoring sheet and told he exceeded legal speed limit, need to do some more practice, and schedule another road test.
We then decided to look for "a second opinion" test center for his second try. Our search came upon the I-5 Driving school which immediately interested us with the school's mission and the story of the founders that started I-5 Driving School. We contacted this school yesterday and our call was answered in less than 3-rings! We then was hosted by a gentleman, with first name Nick, who patiently explained to us about the test, the student's needed preparations, and what we should expect when the road test conclude. Due to our son' swim meet schedules, Nick was extremely patient in looking for an appointment/location that worked for us and it was at another location 34-miles away. An appointment was made for the next day and no payment ($35 road test fee) was even necessary! This I-5 Driving School's was so professional and they treated us with trust, fairness, and respect. At the other school, we had to call, left a voice message, then waited for their call back a day later. Once a test was scheduled, we were asked to make payment immediately ($49.95) and there would not be a refund if for some reasons we have to change the appointment in less than 48-hrs. On the test day with I-5 Driving's, we showed up 15-minutes early and we were greeted very warmly by the front desk lady with the name Brandy. She was very polite, gentle, and poised in interacting with us especially she knew how to make my child at ease and in a stress-reduced manner. Brandy then introduced us to the examiner, Sarah, who in a very calming and pleasant manner walked us through the test procedures and even gave us some quick refresh of hand signals and basic rules of the roads to make our son at ease.
My son then took the road test and walked in the door after 25 minutes later with a broadly smile and a confident nod that he has earned 83% score and PASSED the road test! I-5 Driving School's service did not just ended there: Both Sarah and Brandy shared notes and spent the next 20 minutes to explain in details what our son did right, wrong, and what could be improved for even safer and COLLISION-FREE driving.
We then learned that Brandy is one of the owners of the school. That explained why she was so passionate about helping us in making sure our son get properly trained and become legally qualified to drive. It was a very positive experience for us; we were very delighted and so gratified that we made the right choice in taking the road test here with I-5 Driving School's Mapple Valley branch. We only wished that we had taken our son here for the teen driving class. But at least now we know where to go to, and refer our friends and neighbors to, for the critical driver education & tests, especially for our other 2 kids.
We share our experiences herein, with I-5 Driving School, as an input to other parents in their looking for the right institution to rely on to develop their teenage children to become safe drivers.
I-5 Driving School is indeed a treasured asset to our Puget Sound community!
T. N
Woodinville, WA
