Chile Forum

So my 17 year old wants to get her driver's license here in Santiago (La Reina or Las Condes area). Both her mom and I have supervised some impromtu lessons out on the dirt roads and quiet side streets. However, at this stage she needs some serious guidance and practice. She turns 18 soon. I've priced some of the schools and the rates runs anywhere from 50 to 80 mil pesos for a package deal of theory and practica, driving around with an instructor. My question here to you other forum members with relevant experience, can you, a) recommend or NOT, any particular school in the area?...and, b) are there factors in my consumer research to consider when deciding on which Escuela to trust with this critical task and my 100-150 dollars?? Thanks for any helpful comments/anecdotal info.

i think you are correct in observing that she probably needs a local driving instructor. take your time to find a good one.

how is her spanish?

my gf recently finished a driver's ed program in santiago. i'll ask her about this and get back to you.

yea, I was cut off the other day by a driving instructor in a "student driver" marked car that was performing an illegal change of lanes.

admin wrote:yea, I was cut off the other day by a driving instructor in a "student driver" marked car that was performing an illegal change of lanes.

It's the age old irony of all instructor types around the world, "do as I say, not as I do!"

I realize no formal driving instruction will ever be perfect but as any parent, I'd like to find the best for the money.

I know that at Automóvil Club de Chile they give driving lessons. Since they are very serious about safety and regulations I think they can be trusted. You find all the information on http://www.automovilclub.cl. Wish your daugther good luck.

Ellen-y-Rene wrote:I know that at Automóvil Club de Chile they give driving lessons. Since they are very serious about safety and regulations I think they can be trusted. You find all the information on http://www.automovilclub.cl. Wish your daugther good luck.

My son and some of his friends did the Automobile Club course when they turned 17 and were very happy. It´s not expensive and included sthe car when you take the test as well.

Ellen-y-Rene wrote:I know that at Automóvil Club de Chile they give driving lessons. Since they are very serious about safety and regulations I think they can be trusted. You find all the information on http://www.automovilclub.cl. Wish your daugther good luck.

Sounds good, thanks for confirming my instincts that these guys would operate with more of a sense of 'mission.' Now, if my 17 year old will just pay attention to the lessons and the road rather than whether the instructor is buen mozo or not!

Driving school is great and all for passing the test (there is an English copy on our wiki that can be memorized in a few hours), but you really need to get your kid either in to an advanced driving class or at least augment the driving school. At least get them out on an empty rural road or parking lot, and let them do things like slam on the breaks at high speed to get a real feel for just how long it take to stop a car at various speeds (people often don't learn that until they get in an accident, and then they never forget it). Let them swirve a bit (and hopefully not roll the car). Getting to know that you should punch the gas, not the break to regain control on certain surfaces. How to make those counter intuitive corrections to a car that is swerving out of control, and so on.

I think my years of driving on icy roads in western U.S. or the Mad Max panamerican highway (guns included) taught me to respect the laws of physics first, and the laws of man second. There is a time and a place to break the rules, and I will happily pay the fine if I live. There is nothing wrong with driving way under the speed limit no matter how many people are honking at you on bad roads or in heavy traffic. There is also nothing wrong with punching the gas and driving up on to a sidewalk or in to the ditch, if you are in a tight spot. Those are things that they really don't teach in driving class. With all the drivers in Chile that do not know how to drive and with all the urban infrastructure problems (just stupid intersection designs, or missing stop signs), they are critical life saving skills.

There was a guy that contacted us a few years ago from the States that wanted to open an ice driving school in Southern Chile. I don't think he ever did it, but that is where I would send my teenager after they get the basics down.

admin wrote:Driving school is great and all for passing the test (there is an English copy on our wiki that can be memorized in a few hours), but you really need to get your kid either in to an advanced driving class or at least augment the driving school.

Sound advice and some good recommendations....however, I WON'T be using the family Suzuki Maruti for some of those maneuvers!