It is a high school right of passage to get your license between junior and senior year.

Getting a license takes time. After getting their permit, some teens speed

up the process to only four months by taking driver’s education. Driver’s ed is 15 virtual or in-person classes, learning the rules of the road and driving. Additionally, teens are required to take 4 in-person driving lessons with an instructor.  This is the popular option for most teens: 84% of teen drivers take drivers ed.

Lacey Montanari, a junior at Waterford High School said, “I have my driving test this Thursday, and I feel so prepared because of the drivers’ ed classes. They made me feel safer on the roads and I will get my license faster.”

Once teens get their license, it’s a new sense of freedom. Junior at Waterford High School, Danica Agsalud said, “Having my license was the best thing that happened this year; my parents don’t have to drive me places and my friends and I hang out more.”

Not only does it make the kids feel safer, but the parents often encourage or make their children do drivers ed.

Vanessa Agsalud, Danica’s mother who has had three kids take driver’s ed said, “I made my kids go through drivers’ ed because they need to know the rules of the road and how big of a responsibility it is to have a license and operate a vehicle. My daughter did the Zoom classes and the instructor made sure she was listening and attentive, and now she has her license and I feel safe letting her drive.”

Now there are online , Zoom or video call options for drivers ed courses.There are benefits and downfalls to the online and also the in-person classes. 

Lucy Walker, a junior at Waterford High School said “I take the online classes because I am an in-season athlete and I wouldn’t be able to make it to all the in-person classes and it would slow down the process. As long as I kept myself focused on the Zooms I learned a lot.” 

Drivers ed is a popular choice for teens but sometimes it isn’t an option due to the price. 

Some teens wait six months without taking drivers’’ ed or the lessons with the instructor; however, they are still required to log the number of hours that they drove with an adult on their own time, a required minimum of 40 hours, in order to take the driver’s test. 

A junior at Waterford High School, Parker Spencer says, “I didn’t do driver’s ed because I don’t have time with sports, and I thought it was a waste of time because I just wanted my license by the summer.” 

In Connecticut, the full drivers ed course costs between $739 to $899. And the driving lesson cost between $195 to $235. 

The 8-hour drug and alcohol course costs $149. 

For a drivers test in Connecticut, it costs between $150 and $399.