5 Invaluable Driving Skills You’ll Learn From Your Northwest Instructor

Learning how to drive is a step into the unknown and not knowing entirely what you are doing can often make people nervous. For many of our younger learner drivers, learning to drive is their first taste of real responsibility and the realization that you are suddenly in charge of a ton and a half of motorized vehicle, with no real idea where to start, can come as a bit of a shock.

But don’t panic! The instructors at the Northwest Driving School are some of the best in Nevada, with decades of experience both behind the wheel and teaching people just like you how to become excellent drivers. To help you feel more at home in the car, and give you an idea of the abilities you’ll gain, here are five invaluable driving skills you’ll learn from your Northwest instructor

How To Merge

Merging is the term for when two lanes of traffic converge into one lane or when traffic coming from multiple directions must filter into the same place., such as when entering a freeway. This can be a particularly challenging and high-pressure situation for newer drivers who are unsure of exactly how to appropriately merge and haven’t perfected their roadway courtesy yet. Your Northwest driving instructor will show you the correct technique for safely merging into traffic and how to make sure you are in the correct position to merge

Parallel Parking

Learning how to parallel park, especially if you live in a urban environment, is a crucial skill that every driver needs to develop. Parallel parking used to rank as one of the hardest parts of driving to perfect, right up there with hill starts, but advances in technology, such as rear-facing cameras and parking radar have made it much less difficult. You can expect your Northwest driving instructor to show you how to position your car and use your mirrors to find the proper alignment for the perfect parking job.

Parking or Starting on a Hill

Anything about driving that includes a steep incline is going to be harder than driving on a nice flat surface and starting your car, or parking, on a hill is notoriously difficult. Thankfully our driving instructors have the skills and experience to show you how to use your emergency brake to keep the car in place and how to position your tires to stop your car rolling away if the brake fails.

Right-Of-Way

Learning the rules of Right-Of-Way is best done as a mixture of studying your highway code to learn the rules and then experiencing them in action in real life situations. That way you’ll have your Northwest instructor on hand to help out if you forget the answer to questions like who should go first when there are multiple vehicles at an intersection or if traffic is coming towards you and you’re making a turn, do you need to let them pass before you can go?

Accelerating and Stopping Successfully

This might sound really obvious, but breaking and accelerating properly isn’t as easy as it sounds. There is a reason that learner drivers often brake and accelerate in jerky, choppy motions. Finding out how hard to brake or how quickly to accelerate is something you learn through practice and your Northwest driving instructor will be there to help you at all times. Don’t worry if you stall the car, it happens to everyone, we promise!

Expert Training

The Northwest Driving School and Traffic School provides the Las Vegas community with live driving and traffic classes taught by seasoned instructors. All of our driving instructors have passed background checks, each automobile is DMV safety-approved and every member of the Northwest family is committed to providing excellent drivers ed and behind the wheel instruction.

At Northwest, you can expect to find outstanding classes, both on campus and behind the wheel, that are engaging, fact-filled, entertaining and geared toward success. We make no bones about it, we believe that Northwest provides the best driving lessons in Las Vegas, no matter your age or background. We are proud of the fact that 98% of our students pass their test on the first try. Call us at (702) 403-1592 to start your driving adventure with one of our expert instructors.

Written by:

Rich Heinrich

Master Instructor, Emeritus