I’ll just share my experience with Smart Driving School. By the way I am not affiliated with Smart or anything ha. I was just their student. FYI I had zero knowledge about driving prior to enrollment. I enrolled for their manual transmission course for 20 hours (2 hours per session) for 11,000 which also comes with classroom seminars like Pre-Driving Seminar (I didn’t get to attend), Advance Orientation (I didn’t get to attend also) and seminar on Defensive Driving, Traffic Rules and Regulations, and Preventive Maintenance (I attended this) Balance must be paid in full before kayo magstart ng class. Student permit is required before magstart ng driving. They also offer LTO assistance but I think sa East Ave lang na branch. I work night shift so almost every weekends lang classes ko. It’s up to you girls if papaano nyo imamanage yung hours nyo. They start the driving lesson as early as 7am and I think their latest is until 7PM. Pwede naman everyday if hindi conflict with your schedule. I recommend yung consistent everyday na session para at least hindi nyo nalilimutan yung mga naituro sa inyo. Unlike me na weekends lang so ayun nangangapa kada session. You will just meet the instructor sa branch unless you enrolled for their executive course which is de sundo and hatid from work place or sa house nyo. Of course this is way expensive. The registrar in the branch where I enrolled was nice naman. First day of driving introduction sa car, seatbelt, mirrors, foot pedal, steering wheel, stick shift and the likes and homaygash
I thought doon lang kami sa loob ng car for 2 hours but instructor did let me drive sa highway pa and mga 16 times lang naman ako namantayan ng engine haha
. Medyo focus lang kami nun on left and right turning. Excited and looking forward ako every driving session before. I also experienced magpagas and drive thru. And yes their cars have double brakes. Meaning the instructors has their own foot break. Ok naman to for me for safety purposes di ba baka kasi sabi ni instructor break tapos nagpanic si student naapakan yung gas naku lagot na haha
. Pwede din naman kayo magrequest kung saan nyo gusto magdrive basta kakayanin nung hours nyo and maybe kapag feeling ni instructor na kaya mo na magdrive dun. Meron nga pala sila assessment form to track your progress and andun lesson plan nyo for the day na sometimes hindi naman nasusunod. They also rate you on your form at the end of every session. For the duration of my course I had 9 instructors and drove different sedans. Mostly Toyota like Altis and Vios. Pwede din ata na you can use your own car for training but it comes with a waiver. Meron din sila course na one type of car lang pwede gamitin but this costs higher. I recommend getting 1 instructor only during your course para he knows yung mga areas na kailangan ng improvement. Lucky you if magaling na instructor makukuha mo
. Take note that having one instructor only is a bit more expensive ha. Iba iba kasi sila ng diskarte sa pagtuturo sa students eh. Meron kalmado
, meron masungit
(haha eto muntik na ako bumaba ng kotse but afterwards ok naman kami sinindak lang nya ako) meron funny
, meron din command lang ng command, meron dadaanin ka sa chika na off topic naman sa driving, meron tahimik lang
, meron din naman gentleman
na they will open the door for you and there was one instructor who offered to take me home since malapit lang naman yung branch nila from my place, meron din flirt
(there was one instructor who asked for my number) meron din parang hindi teacher material
and lahat sila in fairness magaling mangagaw ng manibela. Haha ok lang din naman to for me kasi minsan hindi ko natatantya yung kotse sasabit na pala. Good thing hindi ko naman naexperience na masigawan. Sometimes I initiate the conversation/joke sometimes the instructor. Mas relax kasi ako kapag casual lang kami. Ang pinakanagustuhan ko is yung lecturer. He used to be an instructor but lecturer na sya ngayon. Ang dami nyang naishare nung seminar. Sayang nga hindi ko sya naging instructor. Feeling ko I will learn a lot from him. During driving they don’t have other learning materials like sa Honda na may match box cars pa and white board. In my case they just used scratch paper or yung form ko na dinrawingan nila. Regarding naman sa tsansing part if you must, wear long sleeves para less skin contact in case magagawan man kayo ng manibela of course jeans and then close shoes. Most of their training cars naman are lightly tinted. But I remember I drove one that is heavily tinted. Female students can be accompanied by one female companion. No companion naman for male students (for security reasons I think?) Overall I can say na okay naman yung Smart. I learned naman from them. Nacover naman nya yung mga basics. I just need more and more and more practice. Nahihirapan pa din ako sa iba like hanging, minsan nalilimutan ko pa din to shift to lower gear when approaching traffic. I enrolled nga pala on their sedan only but I am currently driving an SUV. Ok naman sya konting adjustment lang. I still practice driving with my father na daig pa mga instructors ko na naninigaw haha. Hindi pa din ako pinapayagan magdrive magisa
. Girls lakasan lang to ng loob and yung eagerness na matuto. Hindi naman kasi lahat matututunan mo with them or makukuha mo in just one try. Remember that experience is the best teacher. Good luck and happy driving!
