Wanna Attend Driver’s School in Michigan? Good Luck

What to do with all that free time this summer. Especially if you're a teenager who doesn't have a driver's license. You could read, ride your bike, take a walk, balance eggs - or, you could learn to drive. Maybe. Maybe not.

According to Detroit Free Press, because of all the state pandemic rules in Michigan, groups of people indoors are limited to 10. That includes classroom sessions where people are being taught driving rules. Driving school classrooms fall under a rule limiting "social gatherings". (Retailers and restaurants are only limited to 50% capacity) That means one instructor and nine students is the limit for driving schools. At a time when many parents (and their kids) are interested in getting their kids driving and out the door.

The "Official Driving School" (which used to be the "Sears Driving School") has had to refund the payments for 600 students because they have no room for them. Benny Malburg, director of Official Driving School, says, in a typical summer they would get about 2,000 calls a week from students and parents asking about driver training. They've had recent weeks where they've had 10,000 calls. And the price per student has gone up due to the drop in volume. It's now $450 (yikes - but anyone who's trained their kid themselves may say it's worth it)

I say, find some way to do the book work online and then find some old guy (or lady) in the neighborhood who wants to make a few bucks and isn't scared (and hopefully has access to a vehicle with a stick shift) - and let 'em have at it.

Here's the story.