Right of Way Driving School approaches one year!

Ryan Turner (visiting from Florida) after a semi-private lesson and Ashton Timmons just after her freeway drive…

Islanders finally have a choice when it comes to drivers’ education, and Sam Leigh is the reason for it. Her new business is off to a wonderful start and the community is a better place because of her hard work.

When many people think back to the old days of driver’s ed, they think of being extremely bored as some instructor droned on and on about stuff they felt they knew already. Later they might think they learned very little and feel extremely ripped off from such an expensive waste of time.

This isn’t the case with Sam’s students. Her extensive new curriculum gets kids involved and focused during each lesson. It’s designed to be interactive, with the emphasis on letting students work out solutions to the problems instead of being lectured by instructor. For example, in one of the first classes of the month Sam draws a four-way intersection and throws dice on the drawing to represent cars. She then asks the kids to figure what order the cars should go in. Beyond the black and white rules, she teaches students about awareness, dealing with bad weather, and training their instincts to do well in a variety of hairy situations. Her advice for new drivers and those who are about to start driving? Pay attention to the behavior of other drivers. You may be in the passenger seat, but learning to observe is a skill you’re never too early to start developing.

Sam has wanted to open her own driving school for the past 15 years. After living in 17 states and being both a driver and passenger in cities with notoriously bad traffic such as New York, she has seen all sorts of situations on the road. She believes that all crashes are avoidable if you emphasize how to prevent them. With about 40 students so far and no accidents, she is proving her words to be true.

Interested in signing up? New classes are offered every other month, with the next one starting this July (which will be done before fall sports start up, high schoolers!) For those of you who are of age and just never felt comfortable enough on the road to get a license, Sam also offers private lessons.

A scholarship fund is being started for those who want to take Drivers Education and cannot afford it. Donations would be extremely welcome. Remember, a few hundred dollars now might sound expensive for a young student, but learning the skills you need behind the wheel can save many times that over time by avoiding damage to yourself and those around you.

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