(Sara's KW) Sara's Kitchener Waterloo Driving School Academy Courses/Topics

(Sara's KW) Sara's Kitchener-Waterloo Driving School Academy’s Collision free approach to driving education emphasizes the most important mental, technical and physical skills needed for safe driving.

To register for a course: call (519) 725-1603 or register online.

(Sara's KW) Sara's Kitchener-Waterloo Driving School Academy Courses (same highlight)

In the classroom - 20 hours

1 Becoming a Safe and Responsible Driver

The Benefits of a Driver Education Course
Graduated licensing and demerit points system
Avoiding collisions, safe and responsible driving habits (introductory).

2 - 3 - 4 Traffic Laws: Creation and enforcement.

The Consequences of Braking Traffic Laws

5 Getting To Know Your Car before you drive

Operation Devices and Features
Control / Visibility / Communication/ Information
Protection Devices and Features (Safety, Comfort, Security)
Checks to Make Before Starting Your Car
Inside / Outside Checks and Adjustments
Planning For Everyday Driving
Time of Day / Route Planning

6 Natural Forces in Driving: Laws of Nature

Momentum / Traction

7 Maneuvering Your Car

Starting a Cold Engine in Cold Weather
Starting a Flooded Engine
Moving an Automatic Transmission Car
Moving a Manual Transmission Car
Starting the Car on a Hill
Using Your Eyes while Driving Along
Steering Straight Ahead
Accelerating / Maintaining Speed / Slowing Down / Stopping
Changing Direction: Backing
Turning a Corner & Turning Around
Angle Parking
Perpendicular and Parallel Parking
Parking on a Hill

8 Driving Strategically:

Acquiring effective seeing habits
Maintaining space
Communicating effectively with other road users
Avoiding collisions

9 Driving in The City

Moving in and Out of Traffic
Entering Traffic / Changing Lanes / Leaving Lanes
Types of Intersections/ Turning at Intersections
Special City Driving Conditions
Vehicles and Special Areas

10 Driving on Highways and Country Roads

Avoiding collisions, safe and responsible driving habits (intermediary)
Highways and Country Roads
Highways Maneuvers / Passing/ Steering on Highway Curves
Driving onto the Shoulder
Conditions on Country Roads
Road Surfaces / Other Road Users/ Special Obstacles
Dangers of Rural Driving
Traffic Fatalities / Preventing Head-On-Collisions
Taking a Long Trip/ Preparing for the Journey

11 Driving On the Freeway (Expressways)

Characteristics of Freeways
Entering a Freeway
How to Handle Entrance Problems
Driving Along on a Freeway
Dangers associated with high-speed driving
Emergency maneuvers Avoiding head-on collisions
Emergency braking, swerving, and rear crash avoidance
How to pass safely
Strategic Driving / High-Speed Driving
Exiting From a Freeway
How to Handle Exit Problems

12 Driving at Night and In Bad Weather

Headlights, night Driving Maneuvers
Survival tactics for driving at night
Rain and winter driving, and avoiding skids
Testing for Traction / Skidding
Adapting to Poor Driving Conditions
Hydroplaning / Driving through Deep Water
Driving In Fog / Driving in High Winds
Driving in Winter Weather
Reduced Traction/ How to get moving/ Driving Along
Driving on very Slippery Roads

13 Reducing Collisions & Injuries

Collision Avoidance / Making Quick Decisions
Collisions / Force of Impact / The Human Collision & Safety Belts
What to Do at the Scene of a Collision?

14 Impairments/Drinking and Driving

What Alcohol does to you?
Blood and Alcohol Concentration
Alcohol and the Law
How to Avoid Becoming Impaired
Dealing with Impaired Drivers
Other Physical Impairments
Other Drugs and Fatigue
Health Conditions & Distractions
Emotional Impairment
The Consequences of Traffic Accidents

15 Taking care of yourself and your vehicle

Basic preventative vehicle maintenance
Keeping eyes on: Tires and Battery
How to reduce fuel consumption and wear on your vehicle

16 Mechanical Failures when the car is moving

Survival tactics for loss of control
Survival tactics loss of power
Survival tactics loss of visibility

17 Emergency situations

Safe driving habits (advanced)
Common collision scenarios
Handling some common but dangerous situations
Dealing with emergency vehicles
What to do at the scene of a crash

18 Risk perception and Defensive driving techniques

Recognizing high-risk situations
Becoming proactive
The effect of attitude, expectations, and beliefs on driving
Vision and perception
Improving your seeing habits

19 Driving responsibly

Seat belts, air bags, head restraints and child restraints
Traffic psychology - attitude can save lives
The licensing process (points, probation, graduated licensing)

20 Preparing for your driving test — some hints from our expert instructors

21 Buying a vehicle

22 Auto insurance

23, 24 Review

25 Evaluation

In the car - 10 hours

During in-car lessons, students learn and practice:

Braking, steering, hand-over-hand, and backing exercises
Keeping the vehicle in control
How to drive smoothly

Right and left turns

Where to look
When and how much to brake
When to begin steering and how much to steer
When and how to recover

Collision avoidance techniques

How to keep the vehicle straight
How to respond to what is seen
How to establish and maintain a safe following distance
Where to look to predict potential collisions
How to enter intersections safely
Blind spot checks

Proactive driving habits

How to maintain an escape route in traffic
How to control traffic behind to eliminate the risk of a rear-end collision
When and how to use the S-approach
How to search for, spot, and solve hazards

Freeway/highway driving

How to enter and exit a freeway and/or highway
How to make proper lane changes
How to pass on secondary highways
Gravel shoulder recovery
Head-on collision avoidance

Emergency maneuvers

How to stop during brake failure
How to escape a rear-crash
Controlled swerving
Emergency braking (threshold and ABS)

Driving evaluations

Competency evaluation
Simulated road test