STUDENT DRIVERS TURN TO MOM-AND-DAD DRIVING SCHOOL

Alicia Warrener was hoping to have all or most of her in-car instruction wrapped up before she returned to Laurentian University after the holiday break.

But the 21-year-old student driver with Academy of Driving Unipol on Upper James found herself locked out of the driving school's vehicle after the province announced in-class and incar learning at Ontario driving schools would be suspended between Jan. 5 and Jan. 26 as part of the COVID-19 modified Step Two plan.

Online lessons are permitted. "It's definitely thrown a wrench in things," said the Stoney Creek resident, who got her G1 learner's permit in 2018.

Warrener said she's now looking at doing the road work after classes end in April and booking a driver's test sometime after that.

"May is our only choice right now," said Warrener, who noted she has been out a couple of times with her father in the family vehicle. "It's a long wait."

Frank De Clara is the office manager of the Academy of Driving

Unipol and president of the Driver Instructors' Golden Horseshoe Association.

He figures there are as many as 2,000 driving school students in southern Ontario like Warrener who are affected by the new regulations.

Yet, De Clara noted, the province is continuing with driver's

licence road tests.

"We're wondering, who's training the students aside from parents to go for the driver's test?" he said.

De Clara said due to the backlog of people waiting for a driver's test, some people might push ahead and book an appointment without complete in-car driving school training, noting some students have been able to book a test in three or four weeks due to cancellations.

"The kids will take a chance," De Clara said. "They may not be perfectly ready for the road test, but they'll take an opportunity to take it for fear of not (getting a test date) for many more months due to the backlog."

He said the driving school industry recommends 10 hours of in-vehicle lessons at a driving school and 20 hours of invehicle practice at home with parents before a student driver attempts their road test.

De Clara said using a driving school is not mandatory to get a driver's test, but there is no insurance discount for those who don't go that route.

Lee Alderson, Ministry of Transportation senior issues advisor, said approximately 421,872 road tests have been cancelled across the province since March 2020.

"Ontario has opened nine temporary road test centres in Burlington, East Gwillimbury, Guelph, Niagara, Mississauga, Mount Joy (Markham), Ottawa, Oshawa and Sarnia to eliminate the backlog of passenger road tests resulting from COVID-19 restrictions," Alderson said, and road test appointments can be made up to six months in advance.

See: www.drivetest.ca for road test booking information.

Meanwhile, De Clara said driving schools are trying to survive with online classes for the next few weeks.

"That's (in many cases) the only revenue items driving schools have had," he said.