I had an amazing experience with Officer Lyle, the online teachers, and everyone in the office!…read moreThey were very receptive and easily accessible if you needed anything for whatever reason. Officer Lyle was beyond patient, helpful, and friendly, and he took his time to answer any questions that I had. Thank you, iDriveSmart and Officer Lyle!!

Online classes: admittedly these are very, very long and kind of boring. They are what they are…read more In-car lessons: these went well. Always started on time and finished on time. The quality of instructors has a quality mix to it, but most were very good. Also, if you like an instructor, you can try to schedule more lessons with that specific instructor, which was helpful. It can be difficult to find lessons when and where you want, but if you book far enough ahead of time, you can generally find several reasonable options. General communications: Every time we called the company for help, they were very responsive and always friendly. Overall, I would say our experience was very positive, and I would use them again if I need to and would recommend them.

If there were 0 zero stars I would have rated them!…read more This place is for someone who likes to waste their time and be treated horrible which I am sure no one wants to be treated that way or waste their time. I joined this course around march 1st and finished the 30 hour course and then it was time to start the driving lesson. I called their number to schedule an appointment, first of all the person who was talking with me on the phone was super rude and unprofessional. After I finally got him to talk to with me about scheduling driving practice I was told to wait 2 months and honestly I was surprised but Long Story Short I waited for 2 months then on may I called because it was time for the appointment. When I called the representative said that I have to wait 1 more month even though I had already scheduled driving practice with them. I didn't wait anymore and took my classes somewhere else. If you want to run a business you need to be respectful & patient to your clients because they are your money makers and when students want to join the course please let them know in the beginning about how long it will take to do the driving classes part.

I did private driving sessions with the Academy. I had two different instructors; both were…read moreprofessional and gave good advice. They were well informed and were able to answer my questions easily and put all my concerns at ease. I would definitely recommend this Academy to others.

My son took an extra practice two hour driving session with Maurice and had an extremely positive…read moreexperience. Maurice was very patient and helped my son get over his driving phobias. He had my son driving on the beltway back from College Park at the end of the session (something I could never do on my own with him). I highly recommend behind the wheel sessions with Maurice.

Google reviews were great, reviews here were poor, I went with Google's. Big mistake…read more Purchased a single driving lesson for "extra practice" for my teenage daughter. Called the office to explain exactly the driving skills we wanted the instructor to focus on and asked them to note that with the instructor. We arrived early at the Bethesda office. Office was closed with a sign saying their instructors will meet you there if you have a scheduled lesson. When the lesson time came and went, I called the first posted phone number, which was out of service. Not a good sign. The second number was answered, and we were then contacted by the instructor who had parked on the street outside -- the first of multiple communication issues. The instructor had no idea why we had scheduled a lesson. Compared to "the competition" in our area (the one with ex-cops, which we previously used), the instructor was unfriendly and unwelcoming --- not a good thing with a new, un-confident driver. After the lesson, my daughter told me that the instructor hardly gave her feedback while she was driving, gave her turn and other directions at the last second, and told her to slow down instead of speeding up to be closer to highway speed when she was merging onto the highway. When she first entered the car, the instructor was playing loud talk-radio. When my daughter asked if he could turn it off (at least she had the sense not to be playing talk-radio during a driving lesson); he turned it down, not off, until she asked again. I don't expect miracles from a driving school, but we know from experience that Habesha's service and professionalism was far below the competition.

Overall great experience! The instructors are patient and work with you all the way.read more

Great place to take driving classes! Really fantastic instructors, nice cars and roomy…read moreinstructional facilities. They are really good about getting you scheduled quickly and getting through the program quickly. The owner is on site and very responsive to questions and suggestions, plus he is very well informed and polite. I thought the whole experience was pleasant, easy and surprisingly fast. Thank you so much!

Excellent driving instructors. Took my roads test and passed the first time!…read more Seriously, Mr. Ish and Mr. Teddy are very patient and definitely want you to pass. I had wanted to book extra hours behind the wheel before I scheduled my roads test, but Mr. Ish really pushed me to take it sooner because he felt I was ready. Very glad he did.

I just passed my DC driving test, and its all thanks to the wonderful instruction from this school!…read moreI would recommend them highly to anyone, especially folks like me who are learning as adults. Before my lessons with Mr. Ish, the only driving experience I had as a 36 year old was some parking lot practice, and a one hour lesson with a different school (which I didn't think was very helpful so I didn't continue). I took 5 lessons of 2 hours each (10 hours total) with him and found him to be an incredibly patient and supportive instructor. I had a lot of anxiety going into the whole process, and his calm presence always put me at ease and made me more confident. When I would make a mistake like making too wide of a turn into a streeet, he would point it out but also ask me why I did it that way. It felt like he really wanted to get to the root of the issue to help fix it. In the case of turning too wide, we realized that I was misjudging the distance of my car from the parked cars on the street. This thoughtful approach really helped diagnose and correct issues as they came up and it was so satisfying to visibly see myself improve. His approach to teaching parallel parking was super clear, and I was able to confidently parallel park during the test, and have now also done it in relatively tight spots on DC streets! He also recommended doing a last lesson right before the test in the Deanwood neighborhood (where the DMV test takes place). This was great advice, and Mr. Teddy accommodated me for a pre-test lesson on short notice. I used the school's car for the test, which was helpful since I was familiar with it. The day of the test there was a really long wait at the DMV and Mr. Teddy waited with me patiently and was also really supportive. All the communication and reminders from the school about lesson times, locations were timely and clear, Mr. Ish was always on time for picking me up, and it was just a seamless experience end to end.

I must give credit where credit is due! I received a prompt follow-up email directly from…read more"Corporate Coach," Mr. Andy Moore, regarding my earlier review. I was informed that my Driver Improvement Program class was not indicative of their usual, normal instruction. While this is obviously not an excuse for Mr. Llew Davies's absolute lack of organization and him giving out all the answers to the class exam, I thought I'd update my review since I did appreciate Mr. Moore following up with me by email AND phone call. I also appreciated Mr. Moore's substantive update and decision to inform me that Mr. Llew Davies is no longer an instructor at the school. While Mr. Moore offered me a free retake of the class (sadly not a refund), I don't think I'll be taking advantage of it since I don't foresee any need right now or in the future.

If you are going to do the 30 hours in-class Driver's Ed, I sincerely hope nobody does it virtually…read morewith them. Despite being busy as all hell, I am going out of my way to write this out of pure contempt and frustration. Their customer service is poor and no efficient recompense as I had to waste extra time out of my packed timeline to reschedule a lesson all because of an instructor's temper tantrum. Based on the two instructors I had, these people are either extremely unprofessional in conduct and some of the worst instructor's I've had in my life or their screening standards for instructors are just abysmally low. The fact that they do not have any customer service for administrative action or any contacts via email should have already been a concerning sign. If not because I needed my license fast, I would not have signed up to such a sketchy place. One instructor in particular had an extremely arrogant and narcissistic attitude demanding everyone have the equivalent of a flashlight shining on their faces during Zoom otherwise they would be removed without any notice or room for discussion. He doesn't even give a standard for what he wants and just finds problems with people he seems to dislike as numerous students were threatened or actually removed without compromise or discussion--including me. The other instructor was not as bad but also unprofessional. He wanted you to respond in a hair's notice. If you took more than 3 seconds to unmute and respond, then he would go on a long tirade about respect to instructors. Both of these instructors lacked extreme professionalism, had massive victim complexes, and were control freaks who would pause entire lectures just to unreasonably lambast someone not 100% following their vague personal requirements not outlined by any ToS, agreements, or contracts given during/prior signing up. If you read all the policies they require you to sign (including the MVA Bill of Rights), just my experience alone they have initially violated two rights regarding professionalism and the hours I am entitled to after paying money. If not for me being in a time crunch, I would have 100% requested for both instructor's names and brought this issue up directly to the MVA--outlined by my rights in the MVA Bill of Rights you are required to sign prior to classes. If this complaint is still valid in a few months after I have settled down, I will 100% go and request administrative action from the MVA and update here.

They phoned it in. Just sat in the car and vegetated while we drove. Did not do any real…read moreinstruction in the car and certainly did not prepare at all for the Montgomery County driving exam. One example - teaching about stop signs and stopping behind the white line. If you see bad habits during the driving instruction that will fail the driving test call them out! Disappointing.

I had this loco for all three BTW classes and it was nice. The instructor was professional and…read moretaught me a few things. I'd recommend this place

We had a horrendous experience with another driving school. For my daughter to get her license…read morewithout waiting the two months, she needed to get the seven hours of behind the wheel. I went on Yelp and found Safe Driving School. The lady was pleasant, so I went ahead and signed her up. That same evening my daughter was driving. The driving instructor was beyond knowledgeable and kind. Unlike the other driving school instructor, he knew where he was going and wasn't constantly looking at his phone. He also spent the entire time with my daughter and gave her some tips that I am even going to use. It was definitely a different experience, and I can't say enough good things about Safe Driving School.

5 STARS! Safe driving academy helped me out so much. I did part 1 of the class back in 2019 and…read morelife just got in the way for me to complete part 2. The staff was helpful, friendly, considerate, timely, kind, and efficient. They were understanding and after showing my receipt they were more than accommodating. The gentleman who helped me when I was having trouble was very knowledgeable and worked through the answers with me instead of giving me the answers. I was honestly blown away when he was grading my test and wasn't using a cheat sheet. He was basing it all off of memory. It was fantastic!