Signing up for drivers training for my son was one of those experiences that I was putting in the back of my mind and one of those things that I was anxious about. As soon as I made my first phone, call to schedule driving lessons for my son, I was put at ease. They were very helpful on the phone and set up dates for driving lessons and they even pick him up at school or at the house or at his job if he were working. They made it really easy for parents who work and can't always drive their kids to where they need to be during work hours. My son was able to complete the required driving hours and they even set up the drivers test with the DMV. Kirt was my son's instructor and my son had a good time learning from him. My son passed his drivers test and is on his way to get his license! Thank you Kirt for all your guidance and time with him!!! read more

My daughter had Kirt as an instructor and he was amazing. Kirt is very knowledgeable and thorough. My daughter felt more confident each time she finished the in car instruction. We even did the DMV driving appointment with Kirt as well and it helped our daughter feel ready for the driving test. She passed her drivers test and I couldn't be more thankful she had an instructor who really cared about a positive outcome. read more

Local Driving School - Berkeley - She passed! - Driving Schools Near Me - Albany, California

I had a great experience learning to drive with Druh. From the very beginning, she was calm, patient, and extremely clear in her explanations, which made a huge difference for my confidence behind the wheel. Each lesson was well structured and focused on real test conditions, safety, and good driving habits, not just passing the exam, but becoming a responsible driver. I really appreciated how Druh corrected mistakes in a constructive and encouraging way and helped me stay calm, even in stressful situations. Thanks to her guidance and support, I passed my driving test and felt truly prepared going into it. I highly recommend Druh to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, professional, and supportive driving instructor. read more

Kirt was a wonderful instructor. We practiced (three lessons) in El Cerrito so I was familiar with all the signs and signals (including the yields). I passed on my first try. Thanks Kirt!! read more

My son took his driving lessons with Local Driving School, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience. His instructor, Kirt, was consistently on time for every lesson, picking him up and dropping him off exactly as scheduled. He was patient, professional, and truly dedicated to helping my son progress -- he went from never having driven before to becoming a confident, capable driver in just a few weeks. What really impressed me was how Kirt and the school handled everything -- even scheduling the DMV driving test for us. On the day of the test, Kirt picked my son up an hour early so he could get in one final hour of practice in the school's vehicle. That extra time made all the difference, and my son passed his driver's license test on the very first try! We're so grateful for Kirt's reliability, calm teaching style, and commitment to his students' success. I highly recommend Local Driving School -- and especially Kirt -- to any parent looking for a top-quality driving instructor. read more

I started taking lessons in August with Kirt. He is the best instructor l've ever had. As someone who was very nervous to drive, he helped me grow my confidence over eight lessons until l passed with only 5 minor errors in October. He was extremely nice and gives you very clear and precise instructions on during your lessons. Don't be afraid to ask questions! Highly recommend him for any new drivers out there. I promise it'll be very worth your time :) Thanks Kirt!! read more

Local Driving School - Berkeley - Driving Schools Near Me - Albany, California

I'm an adult driving student so I thought I'd add my experience here! I worked with Kirt and Sean, and had an excellent experience with both. They were very helpful and experienced, and gave me the tools to get over my fear of driving. Within the first lesson I already felt much more comfortable behind the wheel, after years of having driving anxiety. I took my very first driving lesson on June 26, and I passed my driving test on August 6th. I went with the 5 lesson package, which was well worth the money! I never thought I'd be able to go from level 1 to passing the test in less than two months-- the local driving school instructors are true professionals! If you're selecting an instructor, I would recommend Kirt if you learn well with clear cut and precise instructions, and more structured learning. Sean is great if you like to learn more based on feel/intuition, visualization, and a learn-by-doing approach. Both instructors are great at what they do, and I imagine each teacher's style will suit some people more than others. read more

So I spent 2 hours with the instructor and had a blast he was a very good & helpful instructor. He let me know whenever I was doing something wrong and what to do to fix it . The price was reasonable I would definitely recommend this driving school read more

My daughter just passed the driving test. Kirt from Local Driving School is a great instructor! He knows how to break down complex skills into clear, simple instructions. With strong communication, he can explain driving techniques, safety rules, and road etiquette effectively, helping learners grasp important concepts. The website is also very user friendly and it is a breeze to schedule an appointment. Contacting them via phone is also easy, they answer right away and assist on anything you need. I very highly recommend Local Driving School. I have had my son go through their program too and have been very pleased with the outcome. read more

I had the pleasure of working with Kirt and Sean in preparation for my road test. Both instructors were very thorough in assessing my knowledge, drilling the essentials with me, and engraining memnonic devices for good habits. They took time explaining the law, making good decisions, and discussing how to deal with other drivers' unlawful driving. They provided alot of feedback during the class and then written feedback after the class. Overall, they were really patient and observant, knowledgeable and fun to take a ride with. I actually made some mistakes in booking my lesson package, leading to an overcharge, but the office was courteous about amending those mistakes. I felt at ease during the road exam with their help and guidance and passed on the first attempt. Five star experience for me! read more

Highly recommend Kirt and Local Driving School - they helped me passed my road test! Shout out to Kirt for the morning drive and lessons + tips! He's super encouraging and really thorough with his lessons / instructions - his comments and feedback made me feel well prepared for the drive! His feedback and lesson is very personalized to your areas of improvement. For example, i was having issues with turns and lanes and he helped with that during our time. He also provided handy tips on best practices to do during a road test like voicing out my thought process and being thorough with looking around (SMOG abbreviation). I definitely felt like I've improved as a driver after lessons with him! Furthermore, if there is something I don't understand regarding lanes or traffic regulations , he is patient and understanding in explaining the nuances! He's patient, kind, and personable - all the traits of a great instructor :) read more

Local Driving School - Berkeley - Passed my road test after 6 hr lesson with Local Driving School! - Driving Schools Near Me - Albany, California

My instructors were Riccardo and Kirt. Riccardo helped me become more confident driving on the freeway and helped me create a good foundation for my driving skills. Kirt took me for my driving test at El Cerrito. He is a fantastic instructor. He ensured we had enough time to drive around that area and explained everything the examiner would look for in meticulous detail. One of the best things he did was do a mock test with me, which helped me become more confident about the test. He is very focused, mindful and provided good feedback on my driving. read more

My daughter home from college decided this summer was the time to take her drivers license. She had 2 months to get it done so i booked a package of 5 2hr lessons. She had mainly Kirt as her instructor and passed her drivers test with ease. We can highly recommend Local Driving School. Kirt was always on time, the scheduling was easy and efficient. Thanks to Kirt my daughter was not really nervous on the day of her test,he had thouroughly prepared her for what to expect. 5 stars any day!! read more

I had Kirt and Dru as my instructors and they were phenomenal teachers. Dru helped me with the basics of driving and Kirt helped me learn not only how to pass the driving test but also how to be a great driver and make my driving more smooth and comfortable. Kirt was very kind and patient with me. He kept reminding me the driving essentials and importance of scanning and paying attention to my surroundings to be a safe driver. His reiteration has really helped me retain the important aspects of driving. He was very kind in pointing out the things I need to improve upon. He's very understanding and calm when I make mistakes. Highly recommend him! read more

I had a 2 hour behind the wheel training with Kirt and he paid attention to details and taught me effective and defensive driving I needed to pass my driving test at the dmv in the same day. I passed and thanks to Kirt, worth every penny! read more

My instructor Kurt made me feel ready to be on the road! He gave me all the tips to be a great driver. I would not have my license without him. I recommend him to anyone! read more

My first lesson was with Kirt Ewing. He was incredibly patient and encouraging throughout the entire lesson, and he's very easy to talk with. As an adult learner that has always been nervous at the thought of driving, he certainly helps to alleviate my anxiety. His teaching technique involves breaking down the fundamentals in a very systematic way to make things easier to absorb while incrementally adding more tips throughout the lesson to ensure building good habits. I highly recommend Kirt in general, but even more-so for drivers like me who feel nervous about getting behind the wheel and on the road. He has a ton of experience teaching others how to drive, and he's an instructor even outside of driving--Which really shows! I am planning on scheduling my future lessons with Kirt as well. read more

Prepaid for a package that included 3 lessons, a pre test lesson, and use of there vehicle for the test. My son got the 3 lessons, however when the day of his test came, the company called and said that they had to cancel the pre test lesson because the instructor was sick. I spoke with the owner and he offered me a refund for the missed lesson. He never followed through with that. I called, emailed, left messages, and no response. Very disappointed in this company as it was recommended to me by a friend. read more

Super excited that I passed my driving test today all thx to the guidance of Kirt. He was encouraging and direct about his approach in teaching. I felt very calm and confident driving with him. He was very mindful of what I needed to improve on and gave me great advice. He was careful to look at the list of what will probably be presented on the driving test. He has a vast amount of knowledge and makes the driving experience just more rewarding! Definitely a place I recommend for the community. read more

Really nice coach! @Kirt Ewing picked me up for classes and sent me back every time. His demonstration is very clear. Kurt can tell you how to drive safely, he just knows the key points. Highly recommended! read more

My friend got the gold package from here and on the day of test he waited at the DMV for two hours missing school and his dad having to take a sick leave in order to drive him there but when he got there they wouldn't even let him take the test because he didn't have his gold certificate. His instructor from here told him he was all good to go and gave the signature showing he completed his 6 hours and everything and when we called the school they claimed he didn't finish his hours even though we have proof that he did. 700 dollars and time wasted. WE'RE SO DISAPPOINTED. read more

I had 0 experience before enrollment at Local Driving School at Berkeley. I'm glad I chose them! I've got lessons with Matt, Daniel, and Kirt. I enjoyed my lessons very much with every teacher. All my teachers are very professional, friendly, patient, and helpful. I have a few more lessons lined up but I already feel comfortable driving in local neighborhoods. With Matt, the most memorable part was that I had fun driving through Grizzly Peak Blvd and La Loma park. Those were tough areas, but Matt's patience and careful explanation of situations helped me to build confidence. As a first timer I didn't freak out and actually enjoyed driving. I think it was a really good start. With Dan, I practiced a lot of skills near potential testing regions plus Kensington hills. With Dan's teaching, I started to get familiar with San Pablo traffic flows and several types of turning. I'm particularly impressed by his humorous way of sharing experiences and explaining situations. Kirt helped me a lot to familiarized with local neighborhoods and practiced different types of stop signs, non-stop turning. On Solano Ave I improved a lot on scanning, which was very important for complicated situations and frequent pedestrian lanes. With his teaching, I'm getting much better controlling the car, doing smooth driving and brakes and turning. I also want to point out that Mani who initially helped enrolling me was also great and easy to work with. I'd love to recommend Local Driving School at Berkeley to my friends and colleagues. They're very trust worthy. I'm looking forward to future lessons and road test. read more

Very good instructor, Kirt made me feel more confident with driving and got me to pass my test! Taught me lessons like SMOG and showed me the route for my test read more

I had Kurt as my instructor, highly recommend for new drivers / people who are nervous drivers He's super professional on time always and very patient I went to local driving school from November - first week of January. I passed + on my 1st try with the behind the wheel test I got my drivers license Manny was super flexible and accommodating when it came to driver scheduling 10/10 if you want to become a licensed driver this school is the truth read more

I took my wife here for help to get her passed her driving behind the wheel test and we went to this driving school as our last I had given up after about a month of driving with her I could not teach my wife anything I kept blaming her as a bad driver but it turned out I was a bad teacher! Because after going to this driving school within two weeks she was ready to take her test and she passed without a problem. The driving instructor was a awesome guy also with their prices were fair and their schedule also flexible what else could you ask for five stars all the way! read more

Local Driving School - Berkeley - Here's me and my wife at the dmv my wife just passed her test thanks to this driving school a month ago this looked impossible! - Driving Schools Near Me - Albany, California

I signed my son up for three 2-hour driving lessons; 6 hours total. At the first lesson, the instructor showed up 30 minutes late, and only took him out for 90 minutes. The second lesson lasted just 90 minutes as well. The third lesson was even shorter, only 60 minutes! So basically, I paid for 6 hours of instruction for my son, and only received 4. I spoke with various people at their office, explaining what had happened. They all promised to get back to me with a resolution, but never did. I even left a message for Mani, the owner, asking why the lessons were all less than 2 hours, and if they could make good on what I paid for. Again, no reply. Do yourself--and your wallet--a favor. Steer clear of Local Driving School. Otherwise, you and your young driver may get a lesson on how to cut corners! read more

Took the driving test and passed today! Thank you Local Driving School for helping me get my license :) My brother got his license through here too and will definitely be recommending to others. read more

I had Kirt for my last lesson at the Local Driving School and he was amazing!! He kept me calm, gave me some tips, and made me become a better driver as a whole!!! 3 days after my lesson with Kirt I had my actual test at the DMV and PASSED with 4 errors which is amazing!!!! I owe it all to Kirt for the amazing pointers he gave me during our time together. I highly recommend the driving school and if you happen to get Kirt, you'll have an awesome experience!! read more

Kirt Ewing is hands down the best driving instructor I've had. He helped me get comfortable with the road and was extremely kind and patient with me. Kirt also gave me great tips and made me feel comfortable before and after the driving test! I passed my test thanks to him! It was an amazing experience and would highly recommend anyone wanting to learn to drive to work with him. Thank you so much Kirt! I will see you soon for freeway classes :) read more

Just did my training With Kirt and wow is he a really good instructor I definitely recommend him to any news drivers, Kirt was very patient and cooperative with me and it made my experience a whole lot better, Kirt taught me a lot of things I didn't know and he very patient with me during the entire process, Kirt had a lot of confidence in me and it made the entire thing better knowing he believed in me and trusted me, he really goes over the fundamentals and makes sure you're ready to pass the test first try, if I had the chance to do it all again with Kirt I would definitely take that chance. read more

Kirt was a very good instructor! He helped me build a lot of confidence driving within my 3 lessons, and got me on the highway twice within my last lesson. definitely would recommend read more

I've never before left a Yelp review and never thought I would, but having found this driving school on Yelp, and through their favorable reviews-- I feel like I need to warn people that they really should look elsewhere. The fact that there's any positive reviews at all leads me to believe they're left by shills, because I've yet to see a single redeeming quality. Whenever I have to deal with them, their utter ineptitude never ceases to amaze me. Most aggravating is the constant rescheduling and canceling of appointments, which has happened multiple times (even day of!) because of an apparent infinite supply of flakey employees who always seem to call out sick the day of. Apparently everyone's "grandma is in the hospital", because this was the same reasoning I got each time, both appointments, 2 weeks apart and with different instructors. Real original. Maybe there's an office dog that can eat the scheduling memo next. I'm leaving this review today, after yet another cancelation. This time they wanted to reschedule for a date after my actual driver's exam! If you should be so lucky as to have an actual person really show up to your scheduled appointment time, don't get your hopes up. My experience was akin to picking up a complete stranger off the street, and driving around for 1.5 hours listening to them babble inanely-- with about 80% of said inane babbling being on topics totally irrelevant to all things driving. The last 1/2 hr of the two hour lesson is actually spent doing maneuvers....except my instructor had absolutely no tips to give. "You have to feel the angle" was how I was instructed to parallel park, as he nervously jabbed at the passenger side brake. Thanks dude. Why don't you continue to pontificate about your family life, and I'll just teach myself here. In general I don't like the idea that everyone on Yelp gets a voice. It allows everyone to be a critic, whereas everyone shouldn't be. But in this case I totally see the importance of piping in on the comment section of this business in hopes of potentially steering other unsuspecting prospective clients away. Please heed my warning. There must be better businesses out there. read more

I don't appreciate being flipped off by one of your instructors, while they had a student driving on San Pablo Avenue near Tara Hills on August 18th at 1pm. Maybe teach your students how to merge, go the speed of traffic and to NOT brake check someone since YOU were going 10 mph under the posted speed limit and causing unnecessary traffic read more

Just finished my road test today! I passed on my second try! I had Kirt for all of my 8-13 hours of driving lessons. His instructions: SIPDE and SMOG are really helpful while on the road. He is a great and awesome instructor! Take Kirt as your instructor he will make sure you drive safely and keep your driving habits in check! You got this! read more

I hadn't driven in years, and I needed to start driving again for school in the Fall, so I decided to find a local company to help me brush up on my driving skills. I purchased the 10-hour package, encompassing two 2-hour sessions and two 3-hour sessions. I like the fact that you can handle scheduling and payment either online or over-the-phone! For all of my sessions, I had Carisa as my instructor. She was extremely knowledgeable about all the driving rules/laws, had useful visual tricks (like when to know you've crossed a limit line, the ideal distance to stop behind another car, a step-by-step guide of how to parallel park, etc...), and gave specific feedback on my strengths and weaknesses. I gained exposure to all different kinds of driving environments (city, suburb, highway, back-country, hills, etc..), and she gave helpful advice on how to navigate the specific challenges of each! I feel much more comfortable driving by myself now, thanks to her help! My only criticism is this: I had paid an extra few dollars in advance to cover the toll for driving into San Francisco via the Bay Bridge, but they did not inform my instructor of that, so I had to pay an additional $6 out of pocket during one of my sessions. read more

As seen on most 5 star reviews on here, you see Kirts name next to it. I had the same amazing experience and lesson with kirt. He helped calm me and made me feel confident behind the wheel. He was punctual and did our full hours. Definitely learned a lot and hope everyone can get lessons from kirt too. Thank you again Kirt! read more

If I can give them o point I would. I assigned 3 courses classes, since I just move to US and thought driving school might be a good idea to catch up, even they ask for $100 for 1 class. The ower guy late for 1 hour and half for first class and on the phone for half an hour, he didn't teach me anything really helpful for the first class. I thought about giving up, but the seconed guy was nice and he arrived even 5 minutes earlier. He kind of teach me something useful, so I asked him to be my coach for the third class, I even called customer service to make sure. Third class, the coach was later for an hour again, and it's the owner again, he told me they mess up with the schedule blah blah blah.... I really wish I rejected that class and asked for money back at that time, but due to the schedule for driving test, I took that class, it was a really bad memory, he took me to the parking lot for 1 hour, and on the phone most of the time. so for the whole 6 hours class, i don'r really have time drive on the road, the way I'm driving home, i'm turning right a little sudden, and he start to shout at me. Really? Seriously? I paid $100 a class for that? After that I took two class in san fransico for $50 a class and pass the test. I'd rather take bart to sf each time than taking local driving school. read more

Felt like my instructor was just trying to waste time. He was on the phone for a good quarter of lesson and simply had me drive in circles while he talked to his friend. Would not recommend this place. Check out another driving school - they may cost more money in terms of hourly rates but you'll definitely learn more. That in itself will save you money (you won't need to take as many classes to learn how to drive. ) read more

I had a wonderful first lesson. I wish I chose the same instructor for the other lessons. The instructor changed last minute so I was with someone else. It was hard to stay calm when the instructor gave so many critiques. I wish I was familiar with the area I was driving. I felt like a terrible driver during the lesson. read more

I just passed my driving test, thanks to Ricardo from the Local Driving School! YAY I had driving lessons before but had such a bad experience that I turned into a very scared and nervous driver. My first lesson with Ric took all that away, he's incredibly patient, friendly, laid back but most of all safe. I had 6 driving lessons and in that time I was more than ready for my test. They use a Toyota Prius, which is very safe and super easy to drive! Anyway, I thoroughly recommend them! read more