I just got my license yesterday! Unfortunately, it was no thanks to the Bridgewater Driving School.
When I went for my first attempt back in February, I only had around 10 hours of driving practice a... Read More
I just got my license yesterday! Unfortunately, it was no thanks to the Bridgewater Driving School.
When I went for my first attempt back in February, I only had around 10 hours of driving practice and was not ready for the road test. Without realizing just how badly I needed more practice, I went to take the road test anyway and paid the BDS $150 for an hour lesson before the test and usage of their vehicle. You might think that by spending $150 for services like that they'd be miracle workers. On the contrary, my odds of passing the road test were decreased because of their services rather than increased. Again, I probably would've failed anyway, but the BDS did have their own part to play in me failing.
When the instructor took me to a parking lot to practice what would be on the Edison road test, he was trying to point to white lines in the parking lot to symbolize a sharp turn that would be on the test. For the first few times he tried showing me, I didn't understand what he was pointing at. When he had me do the turn, he shouted rapidly, "GAS TURN GAS TURN GAS TURN," which came out of nowhere. He did the same thing for the next several attempts and as a result my nerves were going through the roof. He finally said, "alright you're not getting it, let me show you how it's done because if you try any more times you'll just get frustrated before the test."
When we got to the road test, we arrived there ten minutes late and the examiner said to us, "you're late." Whether or not the practice test says that you're allowed to be late for your road test, the examiner had a bad first impression of me nonetheless. We would have gotten there on time if it wasn't for the instructor wasting the first ten minutes of our "$150 lesson" talking to me about how wonderful of a driver he was with a rehearsed dramatic tone in his voice.
When I called and complained about the services I received, nothing I had to say had any merit whatsoever because I had failed my road test (I purposely waited until passing my road test before writing this review for this very reason). Every single complaint I made to them was turned around on me in a derogatory way as if I was 100% wrong with all of them. Tom the owner would rather treat his customers like children whining about failing their road test than as customers with valid concerns. Even when I told Tom, "I would've failed the road test anyway but what I'm complaining about is how your services lowered my odds of passing," he still took 0% of the blame and put it 100% on me.
Paying for the Bridgewater Driving School's services is a paradox. You either have enough driving experience to pass the test on your own or you're going to fail the test anyway even with their services. Just like Tom's opinion of his customers, there is no gray area. If you think you need their help to pass the road test, save your money and just spend more time practicing until you feel ready. If you insist on having a cushion anyway, at the very least pay for a different driving school instead.
There is one thing that the BDS is good for, and that's their parallel parking procedure. For your reference, here is their procedure at no cost to you:
1. Put on right turn signal.
2. After being parallel to the front cones, continue forward
straight until the front left flag appears in the middle
of the triangle window in the right rear.
3. Turn the wheel all the way to the right and back up slowly.
The first two flags in the back should pass through the
back speaker behind you in the rear window. Stop after the third
flag is in the middle of the speaker.
4. Straighten out the wheel. Back up slowly until the front
left flag is in the middle of the car's right mirror.
5. Turn the wheel all the way to the left and back up slowly
until the car is parallel with the cones in the back.
6. Drive to the middle of the parking space by going one foot
forward.
7. Put into park.
Note that this is the procedure for the BDS car. Practice it with your own car first and edit it as needed before the test. Read Less