Safeway Driving School

Negative experience: Unbelievably rude staff. I called before I came to confirm their hours. I showed up to register my 3 students and upon entry the man at the desk was attending a woman and her daughter. He didn't acknowledge us as we walked in, but I fully understood that he was busy. After they left, he called out "next." I approached the desk and said, "hi, I called earlier today.." he interrupted, looked at me rudely and said, "Yeah, you were supposed to be here 3 hours ago!" I said, "excuse me?"... He then repeated it, and I said "you must have me confused with someone else." He then said, "well whatever... What do you need?"... At that point, I had had enough. I beckoned my kids and we left and will NEVER return! I couldn't believe how absolutely unprofessional, brash, and unapologetically rude he was. Just unbelievable. I would NEVER recommend this place. Absolutely unacceptable AND he NEVER apologized for thinking I was someone that I wasn't.

Fantastic experience: I recently passed my road test, and I truly couldn’t have done it without Ms. Pam. From the very first lesson, she was patient, encouraging, and incredibly knowledgeable. What stood out to me most was how she explained everything so clearly—whether it was parallel parking, lane changes, or handling tricky intersections, knowing the right of way, she broke it down in a way that was easy to understand and apply. Ms. Pam also helped me build my confidence on the road. She never made me feel rushed or judged, even when I made mistakes. Instead, she calmly corrected me and helped me learn from them. Her positive attitude and dedication made every lesson a great experience. Thanks to her guidance, I not only passed my test but also feel confident and safe driving on my own. If you’re looking for an instructor who genuinely cares about your success and safety, I highly recommend Ms. Pam. Thank you again for everything!

Fantastic experience: I assume readers of this review are parents aiming to decide between Safeway and its competitors. So I hope this can help in that respect To summarize: my experience with Safeway has been phenomenal. I was incredibly nervous about driving, every staff member and instructor at Safeway approached my apprehension with great care, empathy, zero judgement, and a lot of support. Safeway's instructors, the lesson structure, and their overall friendliness and professionalism quickly bolstered my confidence in a manner NOTABLY superior to the other driving school I attended in the past. So I am very confident that for the vast majority of people, they will have a more effective, warm, and professional experience with Safeway versus any local alternative. The primary competitors as I can tell are as follows: The Driving Academy on Coldwater, Precision Driving, and the Black and Blue driving school on Jefferson Boulevard. Of those competitors, I only have personal experience with the Driving Academy. Regarding said experience, the most glaring difference between them and Safeway was professionalism. I will provide an example. To quote an email from the Driving Academy on Coldwater: "Hello, I have called you 3 times and listened to your long winded not so funny voicemail and it was full so I could not leave you a message. We have to schedule over the phone." While the exasperation they expresssed is certainly understandable, it is in my opinion quite unprofessional. I could never imagine anyone from Safeway conducting themselves like that, despite having even more justifiable reasons to do so with me. The significance of The Driving Academy's tone in that email is more important than it may seem. Since The Driving Academy expressed annoyance with me in such an oddly blunt way, a sense of contempt permeated all of the subsequent lessons. That, in turn, impacted my comfort level during the drive sessions - further compounding my nervousness. So, that is part of why I believe I progressed so much faster with Safeway versus the Driving Academy. Regarding Safeway's other competitors, I think the Google Reviews clearly indicate they are more effective. With 38 reviews, Safeway's 4.8 stars comes from a larger "sample size" then the ratings for any of their aforementioned competitors. With a sample of 27 reviews, Precision Driving has 3.8/5 stars. Knowing nothing else about Precision, that fact alone is enough for me to recommend Safeway over them. Likewise, Black and Blue driving school has a rating of 4.2/5, but with the smallest sample of only five reviews. So, to parents reading this, keep that fact in mind. Safeway has the most reviews, the largest sample size of feedback, out of all competitors in the area. This means they should arguably have a lower score as with more reviews, there are more opportunities to convey a bad experience. So, having the most reviews AND the highest star rating should on its own be a clear endorsement of Safeway's quality. And I hope this review can help contextualize why thats the case

Fantastic experience: Hey Josh lol this is Destiny but I just wanted to leave a good review & brag how exceptional this school is. Maddy did a wonderful job teaching the driving education class & Aiden, my instructor, makes me feel more than safe & comfortable while on the road. Josh always has good communication & calls very frequently to schedule lessons for me. The cars are clean & run very well! Everyone is always so nice & Josh stole one of my chicken nuggets yesterday. Nah I’m playing he asked, but yea definitely worth the $, & if I had children I would feel more than confident putting them through Safeway. 25 more hours to go! & I luckily get to take my licensing test through Safeway as well! Happy to learn how to drive here!

Fantastic experience: Pam and Josh were so amazing! I can say Pam helped me so so much. She was so sweet and genuine and she helped me progress a lot. I highly recommend Safeway! They also work with you financially.