I am the mother of three teenagers and my philosophy behind getting my driving instructor certification was that the students, regardless of their age, need to be taught correctly to be good drivers. I thought I was a good driver until I took my certification classes and started working with other instructors. I could not believe how much I had to improve on. We do not need to raise the age for young drivers to acquire a license, we just need to teach them correctly and for the proper number of hours.

My main focus is to give the student the skills they need to drive legally, courteously and above all safely. In this day and age with cell phones, road rage and so much multi-tasking while driving, accidents for new drivers have doubled if not tripled. We must stress the importance of safety with the inexperienced driver. Most students have only experienced a limited number of hours driving with their parents, and parents (like me) have developed lackadaisical habits that will be passed onto the student.

Living in Western Loudoun for the last 12 years, Virginia for the last 15; I have been in many forms of traffic and on all types of roadways. Using an instructor that is from this area will benefit the student, an instructor from Sterling or Reston does not drive on gravel roads or deal with the hazards of flash floods, tractors on the roadway or the abundance of deer we do. The students need to be taught on roads they frequent. They need to be able to recover safely after veering onto the soft shoulder of the roadway. These skills can be LIFESAVING in our area.

I intend to train the student to be the best driver they are willing to be - my family and I must share the roads with them! I look forward to working with your child.