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!

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.

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.

After ten three-hours online driving lessons, came to this office for the first in-person driving…read morelesson. It located on the second floor up the FedEx Office Print Ship Center. Its entrance faced to the parking lots from the Mr. Tire Auto Service Centers. After signing in on paper sheet, the driving coach Dan was there soon after. He was nice and explained everything needed to do clearly during the drive. He was very helpful during the drive and talked a lot about rules or driving in general. After returning to the office, was led to the computers where the grading process was done quickly. He gave helpful feedback about what needed to improve and important things to know about the actual driving test. He also answered all questions well and the whole process took no more than five minutes.

Prior to writing this review I contacted a corporate number to discuss the issue and was told to…read moreemail HQ@gregs... So I did, and 2 weeks later I have received no acknowledgement of my email. For my daughter's 3rd in car session, I had the expectation she would drive on a major road (270 or 495). She did not do this. I have since learned that the requirement is only to go on a highway with at least a 50 mph speed limit, not a freeway. I spoke with one instructor who said that my they could have gone on 270 or 495 but that the instructor might not have felt comfortable. She also asked how many hours my daughter had driven. When they finally found my daughter's instructor, he said he could have gone on 270 or 495 but didn't. He said there was nothing wrong with her driving that made him not do it (he did not ask how many hours she had driven). He said maybe the roads could have been bad (unlikely at 10:30 a.m. on a sunny Wednesday morning in July), or maybe there was an issue with the student before. Given that the session started 12 minutes late and ended 18 minutes early, it seemed more likely that he was lazy. I checked my daughter's Life 360 report and could see that the road she took was New Hampshire Ave, where I believe the only area with 50 mph speed limit is when it is a one lane highway. This is wildly different than driving on 270 or 495. Also, it shows that her maximum speed was 44 mph, not the 50 mph necessary to meet the requirement. Based on that, she did not meet the requirements of completing the course. I know that you "get what you pay for." So buyer beware.

Amazing empathetic and nice teachers. I had a great…read moreexperience every time I went there and have learned a lot.

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.

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!