25+ Hour Defensive Driving Course

Welcome to the full 25 hour defensive driving course!

This course (the theory portion) is 100% online, LMS and self paced. You will be able to view the courses as your availability allows, and to test your understanding of the course by completing the assigned quizzes. Your total grade will be a culmination of the average of all the quizzes completed. You will also be writing a final exam, which includes 50 multiple choice questions on all the material provided in this course. Your progress will be tracked, and you’re able to continue to learn from the materials provided for 1 year from the moment you begin.

We have an updates lesson page, which is designed to inform you of any current issues, updates or new information that might be helpful for you to be aware of. You can simply simply “complete” this lesson at first, and move on and visit it occasionally, from time to time,  for any changes that you should be aware of.

Benefits of this Course

• Remove any limitation letters associated to your license, and therefore limitations on your driving privileges
• Lower your insurance rate for the first 3 years of your driving career
• Familiarize yourself with driving rules in Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada.
• Learn and review the Right of Way rules on how best to share the road with others.
• Become equipped with the knowledge to drive and control a vehicle correctly and effectively.
• Learn from the mistakes of others and avoid potential injury due to crashes, by viewing crashes (including commentary).
• Get to know the time-tested driving strategy known as OEA, necessary for every defensive driver.
• Learn how to drive in all different weather and road conditions, such as night driving or winter driving and more.
• Discover coping methods in case of emergency situations related to the vehicle, i.e. if the brakes don’t brake, what to do.

System Requirements

While you’re able to use a mobile device, we do strongly recommend using  a computer or a laptop, in order to view all the visuals from the videos and to complete the program. Assignments will demand that you complete some reading, writing and even uploading content to our servers.

You will also need access to the internet and the data required to stream videos.

It’s also recommended to use the chrome browser software, which is available for free to download on either pc or mac.

You will also need an office type application i.e. Microsoft Word for viewing .doc and .docx files. If you don’t have access to such an app, you may use google docs which gives you this capability for free. There are also multiple free software alternatives.

Technical Support

In case of any technical support issues, you may reach out to us between the hours of 9-5 from Monday to Friday.

One of our staff members will be in touch within 24 hours, in case we are not able to assist you right away.

In order to ask for assistance, you will need to make a ticket in the ticket centre, located on the bottom of your profile page.

For your information, this is a no-reply email, so simply make another ticket for any further guidance. For some troubleshooting tips and things you can do yourself, please scroll down to the bottom of this document.

 

The Learning Method

The flexibility of our course allows you to take in-car sessions with our instructors, learn the handling of the vehicle and combine the practical with the theory that you will learn from home. The benefit of this type of learning is that you’re able to take what you learn in class, and practice it in the car. You will also be in a better position to learn the material in class, as you will have had some experience driving a vehicle, where you’ll be able to then connect to the theory materials.

The general progression of the course is from theory to practical. As you progress with your learning, you will find that the material becomes more and more practical and relevant to a driver. This knowledge will be applicable and relatable as you start taking driving lessons. My suggestion to you is to not delay in-car training, as that can only help further and deepen your overall understanding of a vehicle’s operation and what you need to do in the vehicle, in the role of a driver.

It is recommended to at least complete 1/2 of the theory program before you begin your in-car practical driving lessons with a professional driving instructor.

Length and Completion

Important: The entirety of the material must be reviewed before ‘completing’ and submitting a lesson. We are able to see how you progressed through the course, and in order to certify and receive your completion driving certificate, the requirements must be met.

There are 25+ hours of valuable information, including videos, text, shared material and quizzes. The best way to manage learning from this material is in small chunks, based on your comfort level and time. In order to make it enjoyable, and allow the digestion of this material, it is recommended that you take regular study breaks, as if you were in a classroom. You’d find it fruitful to avoid distractions such as the usage of your phone, videogames, etc. (whatever would distract you), while you are learning -and take lots of notes. You may understand what you’re learning, but by writing it down and practicing it in the car, you will have the best chance of committing this knowledge to your long term memory.

Honesty in learning is something that you as a student are entrusted with. Driving is a big part of adulthood, and as an adult or future adult, we trust that you take responsibility for actually going through this material, exercising engagement, discipline and asking questions. We understand the difficulty (for some) of learning remotely, from home, without the physical presence of a classroom location. This is why it is doubly important to ensure that you are in a state (similar to driving), when and where you’re able to stay focused and absorb whatever important information you can, as much of it as you can in each sitting.

The Material Source and Content

This course will be using the approved textbook Today’s Drivers Manual, which can be purchased separately to use at home and later. It has 22 chapters and it includes everything you will need to know to familiarize yourself with the rules of the road, the vehicle and its care, techniques for driving and defensive driving.

The Course Book

In order to help supplement your online studies, it’s a good idea to purchase the course book. Here’s where you can buy the book.

What is covered:

The curriculum included in the course includes, but is not limited to the following:

• The Graduated Licensing System and what it means – The limitations of each license, Driver licensing,
• Roles and responsibilities when using the Highway Transportation System
• Traffic Control Devices, ie. Signs, signals, pavement markings, Traffic Control Devices and personnel
• Administrative laws, ie. Necessary documents, Demerit point system, Rules of the road, Right of way
• Physical and mental health of the driver and ways to cope to one’s state of mind/body, Vision, Driver Psychology
• Road rage – the impact on oneself as a driver, and on others
• Alcohol and drug influence – Effect of drugs, the rules related, experiences of other drivers
• Pre-drive inspection and protocol – What to check before/after entering into a vehicle?
• Basic Maneuvers such as steering and visual tracking, acceleration/braking, car control and comfort
• Defensive Driving – OEA and SIPDE programs and how to utilize these into creating time/space, Risk Perception, Identifying Hazardous Situations and driver action,
• Safety Technology – Passive/Active devices, Car design improvements, Highway design Improvements
• Laws of Physics – Gravity, Kinetic energy, Inertia, Centrifugal force, Weight Transfer
• Stopping Distances – In consideration to the size/weight of the vehicle, speed, weather/road conditions, Vehicle technologies such as braking systems/drive train systems
• Driving Techniques– How to turn, to stop, lane change, get on and off the highway, park and more
• Driving in urban and rural environments – speed considerations, visibility, space/time management
• Expressway environment – Characteristics, Rules, Speed, Lane choice, Effect of High Speed
• Driving in adverse conditions – Sand, Gravel, Rain, Snow, Fog, Wind, Hills, Construction
• Emergency Situations – Hood Flies open, Brake Failure, Steering failure, Acc Pedal Sticks and more
• Your engine and power train – Understanding the car parts, importance of maintenance, demo
• Owning a vehicle – Financial, legal responsibilities, Lease vs. Own and making choice based on need
• Planning a trip – During summer and winter, How to prepare the driver or the car, Vital items, Fuel Efficient Driving

Lessons

Interactive videos: For the videos that contain interactive features, i.e. questions, you will need to get all the answers correctly to move forward in the lesson. It’s important to take notes so you will know how to answer the questions that pop up. In the event that you get a question wrong, the video will rewind to allow you to view the material that you may have missed. Once the video is completed (or in case the “submit screen” will pop up – whichever is first), you will need to click on the ‘star’ at the end of the play bar, and submit your answers. Doing so enables (and therefore allows you to) complete the lesson and move forward in the course.

Comments: Please share your opinions and comments at the bottom of each lesson. Sometimes you’re prompted to leave a comment, and other times you’re not. In either case, your opinion matters to us so please share. Note: the comments section is not for issues or help you might need with a lesson. You will need to use the ticket support centre for personal issues you’re having, since the comments will be shared/viewed by all students.

Each lesson is self paced – containing some text material to read, and a video to watch at your own convenience. While there is no time limit for each lesson, the entire course must be completed within 1 year from the time that you initiate the course. If you did not complete the course in a timely manner, there may a fee incurred to re-start the course. It’s important to watch the videos, and take notes so you are able to answer the quizzes and the assignments – and ultimately to successfully complete your education.

The video and sound quality are adjusted to the highest quality automatically based on the strength of internet connection, so make sure you have good access to internet to view the materials. This way you’re able to see the images, the visuals and hear the audio in the way they are best intended to be viewed.

The videos can also be watched at higher speeds of 1.25x or 1.50x, but please only view it at a faster pace if you are able to stay fully focused and still absorb the materials – otherwise you should view the material provided in their original speed. If there are numerous questions in a particular section, watching the video at a speed higher than the normal speed may skip over a question. You will not be able to complete the lesson if you miss responding to a question.

The lessons have the ability to rewind by 10 seconds every time you click, so you can review something you might have missed. You can pause the video at anytime as well to take notes and resume it when you’re ready. Each video also gives you the ability to view its closed captioning. You can use this feature by clicking on CC on the bottom right corner of the video and choose the English (Canada) option. Once a video is paused due to an interactive quiz, you can no longer rewind and will need to answer the question. If a video doesn’t have closed captioning or if you’re not able to rewind it by 10 seconds, please report it in the ticket centre.

Quizzes

Each quiz has its own separate pass grade, and time limit (i.e. 10 min, 20 minutes) in which you have to complete the quiz, so make sure you are aware of it. After a quiz is completed, you are able to go through all the questions, your responses and your final grade recorded in the system. For each quiz, you are allowed one re-try in case you fail it.

If you fail it a second time, you will need pay a small fee to have our tech support reset your progress for that particular quiz. This is meant as an aid to focus and apply yourself to complete the material, and avoiding just clicking through. In this case, you will need to email us at [email protected] with your request.

Assignments

Assignments are different from quizzes in that they need to be graded by a real live instructor. You will need to wait for the grading process to take place, before you are able to proceed.

Each assignment comes with its own material/resources (things you need to download), and you can:

• Put the answer in the box provided,
• or complete the answers in the .doc file, and upload it back up to the server.

Important: If you do use the answer box, it’s a requirement to include the questions there as well. Otherwise it becomes very difficult to grade for the instructors. If the questions are not included, you will get a “0” grading (ungraded), and it will still count as a try.

Feedback: It might be easier (and it’s preferred for us for grading) to use the latter method since the questions are already there, and all you have to do is just put the answers below those questions, and upload them.

If you upload the answer, we will include feedback notes on the document and send it back. If you use the answer box, we will give you more of a general feedback in a form of a response message.

Time Line: For each assignment, you have a total of 7 days to complete it from the moment you start that assignment. If you’re still working on the assignment, you can simply click ‘save’, logout and come back and work on it again.

If you’re done and would like to submit the assignment for grading, click on ‘submit’. Because a live staff needs to review your assignment and grade it, you won’t be able to proceed with the course until it is graded.

Acceptable formats for the upload include: .txt, .doc and .docx files.

The assignments are graded twice a day:

•  in the morning (assignments received in the late evening/early morning)
•  in the evening (assignments received in the day from morning until 5 pm)
• If we still haven’t graded your assignment, and it’s been 24 hours – send us an email to let us know. Sometimes there may be a missed notification.

Once the assignment is graded, you will receive an email informing you that your assignment has been graded. Once the assignment is graded, you may need to refresh the page to proceed.

In the event that you didn’t pass, you will receive feedback notes from our instructors on how to improve your answers, and you will get a chance at a retake. If you don’t pass still on the retake. There will be a fee applied to reset your progress through our tech support. Please email us: [email protected]. 

Please note all information and tools are provided to help you pass on the first try, and there is no reason that you ever need to fail unless you try to do it quickly, without focus or earnestly. It is important to understand that our goal as educators is to facilitate your learning and help you succeed.

Final Exam

Your final exam is a cumulative testing of your overall course knowledge, and it includes 50 multiple questions. You must achieve a minimum score of 70% in order to graduate. If you were not able to achieve this grade, you will need to retake another exam, for which there is a fee incurred. The exam being as easy as it is, if you’ve gone through the course faithfully, completed the quizzes and the assignments, you should be able to pass it on your one and only try.

I wish you luck and root for your persistence in learning and completing this course and look forward to any questions that you might have!

Total Course Assessment

The assessment of this program will be based on passing all of the quizzes in the program. Each quiz has its own minimum score requirement.

Feedback

Our aim will always be to keep improving and offer more quality to our students.

Through the student ticket centre, you can let us know how to improve any lesson, quiz or assignment.

To give us your feedback:

• Visit your profile/ scroll down to the ticket centre.
• Choose the 35+ Hour Driver Education Course.
• On the next page, select the feedback option from the drop down menu.
• On the next page, select the lesson/quiz/ or assignment you’d like us to improve.
• Type in your feedback and click submit.

In-Car Driving Lessons:

Regardless of whether you’re a new or older student, or your prior experience, we now require all students to complete the theory portion of the program until chapter 16 before booking a driving lesson. The reason being: it was found that there was a big gap in the basic educational side of driving rules when students were allowed to book their lessons simultaneously.

*Important*: having a road-test booked does not allow you to access the driving lessons prior to completing the theory portion required. You should not book a road-test unless you’ve been recommended to go for the road-test by your in-car driving instructor. If you decide to book the road-test on your own anyway, you will still not have access to the driving portion of the program – you will need to first complete the required step of doing the online theory portion.

*NEW* Once you’ve reached chapter 16 (please email us) – you will begin to see a menu option for booking lessons in the navigation bar, and you can start booking your lessons from there.

Your 10 hours of in-car driving lessons can be booked by first logging in, navigating to “Driving Lessons” , and then to “book a driving lesson”. (please email us to activate this option in your profile)

What is included in your driving lessons package:

The appointments included in the 35+ Hour Program will display a price value.

Your program includes 6 total sessions, including a road-test preparation and a road-test session.

You’re not required to pay again for the sessions already included – you can safely ignore the price value displayed.

Appointments need to be approved:

Please note that appointments that you request will need to be approved in order to avoid time conflicts in regards to location/distance between students, as well as instructor availability. Once your appointment is approved, you will receive an email to this effect. You should also receive a lesson reminder the day before via email.

Mind the gap between the sessions:

Keep in mind that there needs to be a 4 day gap between your driving lessons. This is to ensure that you have ample time to practice what you’ve learned in car on your own. Your driving instructor may suggest a shorter gap frame based on the student’s performance, ability to practice, or how the student may handle the difficulty of any one session.

Order of the appointments:

There’s a specific order to the appointments available within your package. Please book the 4 driving lessons first, and only then book the road-test preparation and road-test session appointments.

Driving Lesson Feedback and Announcements:

• Under the same section, you will also be able to find a student mailbox, where you’ll be to view your lesson feedback after each lesson, as well as any important announcements.

• Under the settings section, you’ll be able to enable/disable notifications via email. Please note that you’re responsible for visiting your mailbox, and being aware of any announcements.

• An example of an announcement could be “site maintenance going on” and asking to not access the website. Or there may be instructor availabilities announced that you may be able to take advantage of.

Troubleshooting tips:

In case of any issues, you may visit our lesson on troubleshooting. There are a number of self-help methods you can use to troubleshoot a myriad of issues, computer glitches, etc. that may appear. If you still have an issue beyond the information provided, please submit a ticket to tech support from your profile page. Note the tech support hours are between 9-5 pm during weekdays – we’ll try our best to address all possible concerns arising in a timely fashion.