FALL 2010 SPECIALS!

GOVERNMENT APPROVED BASIC COURSE FOR INSURANCE REDUCTION

Sign up on-line now and receive 10 hours of in-car lessons and 15 hours
of classroom instruction for the low price of $549.00 +GST. 
In the BASIC COURSE for insurance reduction you will also receive, at no extra cost, your choice of

a three hour Auto Maintenance (or Winter Driving) class ($90.00 value). 

a 3 hour Driving Simulator class ($90.00 value)

or use of the road test vehicle for your class 5 road exam ($50.00 value).

CRITICAL SKILLS PACKAGE FOR NEW DRIVERS

The Cadillac of new driver programs, is also on sale this fall for an unbelievable $779.00 + GST! Click on Driving Instruction Packages to find out all of the stuff that is crammed into this great package!

When signing up on line, please indicate under "Brush up or other program" that you are signing up for the FALL SPECIAL. Then phone us to confirm registration and make payment, or come visit our office pictured below!

Freedom to Drive, Inc. is a premier Edmonton driving school that offers superb Class 5 driver education to new drivers. We will help you gain your freedom and independence by teaching you how to responsibly operate a motor vehicle.

Freedom to Drive is located in The Blue Quill Driver Training Centre facing 27th Avenue on the south side of the Blue Quill Shopping Mall, close to the Heritage Transit Station in South Edmonton. However, we do have in-car instructors that will travel throughout the city.

Our office hours are Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., plus any time during the weekends and evenings that we are holding classroom sessions.

In conjunction with our classroom and in-car instruction, the Blue Quill Driver Training Centre features computer monitored Driving Simulators that make driving instruction fun, safe and effective!

Driving Simulators – What’s this?

Our professional instructor will acquaint you with all the basic skills of operating a vehicle while you practice them sitting in an actual true-to-life automobile dash with speedometer, tachometer, fuel and temperature gauges etc. We will teach you the correct techniques for hand over hand steering, shoulder checking, braking and accelerating, plus many other important skills.

Our driving simulators also teach scanning, steering control, blind spot awareness, and more advanced skills such as threat recognition and collision avoidance. Simulators have been around in public education in one form or another for several decades. They have been used extensively for some time now in the US, but Freedom to Drive is the first private driving school in Western Canada to offer this program for the benefit of beginning driving students. With complex and dangerous traffic situations becoming more and more commonplace, this sophisticated and efficient method of driver training is a much needed development.

I am a typical class 7 licence holder with some driving experience and a dedicated driving coach to help me practice. The CRITICAL SKILLS PACKAGE FOR NEW DRIVERS was designed with you in mind!

I am an eager new driver, but I am sometimes too busy to do the practicing I know I should. 
Our policy is to postpone your lessons for a week or two if it appears that you have not practiced adequately.  You may then resume in-car instruction once you have caught up with your practicing. This greatly increase your chances of passing your road exam the first time as well as saving you money!

I am new to Canada and I have no one to practice with.
Freedom to Drive has PREMIUM PACKAGES that offer shorter multiple lessons per week with a professional driving instructor that allow you to earn your licence in  about a month. 

I am a senior citizen, and with all the new developments in driving, I am afraid of losing my driver’s licence.
We have a special BRUSH-UP package for seniors who would like to hone up on their driving skills and learn what is new in driving.

I just purchased a new car with standard transmission and I have no idea of how to drive it!
Our STICK package is exactly what you are looking for.

I am an average Edmontonian who also happens to have a physical disability, and like everybody else, I want to learn how to drive!
Our thing at Freedom to Drive is to make sure that our driver training for persons with disabilities is ON PAR with instruction for non-disabled people. What more could you ask!

I just immigrated from “country X” and although I was a good driver in my country I had to trade in my licence for a class 7. I must be able to drive right away for my job.
You need to take the FAST TRACK package to acquaint yourself with Canadian driving practices and to earn your insurance certificate in 2 weeks!

For every freedom in life, there is a corresponding responsibility. At Freedom to Drive, our clients graduate with a knowledge of safe driving strategies, with the skills to execute them, and with a responsible attitude toward this very serious business of driving.

Make a donation to help a driver with a disability! As Margaret is disabled and Drew was formerly a DATS driver, Freedom to Drive has purchased a variety of adaptive automotive devices for persons with physical disabilities with the intent of providing professional driver training of comparable quality and cost to that provided to our clients without disabilities. Persons with disabilities, however, generally require many times more hours of instruction and practice than persons without disabilities. In order to make driving lessons financially accessible to persons with disabilities who are generally on reduced incomes, we are soliciting charitable donations from organizations and individuals who have a stake in increasing independence for persons with disabilities. These donations will not go to Freedom to Drive, but will go directly to students with disabilities to reduce their the cost of instruction. If you would like to help, please give us a call at 437-4833 and we will connect you with someone who would like to have their Freedom to Drive. We will make arrangements to have your donation applied directly to their driving lessons (this can be arranged anonymously if you prefer).

WHO ARE WE? 

Drew Baron was a people friendly Edmonton Transit DATS driver, former bus maintenance mechanic and professional driver for over 15 years.

Margaret Wardell was an active Edmonton Junior High teacher who woke up in the hospital after two months in a coma to discover that she had been disabled in a horrific motor vehicle collision on the way to work.

How they met and how FREEDOM TO DRIVE was born

Drew met Margaret while he was driving her on DATS, and their personalities and life philosophies dovetailed resulting in a relationship that gave birth to Freedom to Drive, Inc.

How FREEDOM evolved

Drew and Margaret’s close association with other car accident survivors in the disabled community led them to realize how many of these tragedies could have been avoided through vigilance and common sense. This motivated them to use their skills and professional backgrounds to train others to steer clear of potentially avoidable tragedies.

FREEDOM today

Drew is now a provincially accredited Senior Driving Instructor, and Margaret manages the driving school as the curriculum coordinator. They are both passionate about helping others gain freedom and independence by learning to safely operate a motor vehicle.  Drew and Margaret now have several excellent staff members working with them, both as instructors on the road and as office staff in the Blue Quill Classroom location.

We believe that the most effective learning takes place when the serious side of driving is blended with enthusiasm and enjoyment.

Here are comments made by some of our customers:

Tapasya Pai (Tap), New Driver

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you a million times….Drew.

Because of you today I'm on the roads of Alberta with lot of confidence and knowledge of road safety and rules.

I wanted to get my license in January 2009 but couldn't really achieve it with my previous instructor. But with help of Drew's training It was possible with just 6 hours of training - 1 week in September - which was awesome. I think he is a great instructor. So friends I just wanna say - Rather than going to a school which has low charges, it’s always beneficial to go to a school which has excellent training and excellent instructors. And all this at a very reasonable price. That’s what is "Freedom to Drive"...It has changed my life."

David (young man starting out in life)

The following federal and provincial sites provide valuable information on transportation and automotive safety:

CANADA SAFETY COUNCIL: www.safety-council.org

TRAFFIC SAFETY IN ALBERTA: www.saferoads.com