Behind the Wheel Driving Lessons

During the behind-the-wheel portion of your driving lessons, you will learn a variety of skills. If there are areas that you would like to work on, we can focus on those specific skills to help you feel more comfortable. The number of behind-the-wheel lessons you may require will depend on your experience and how quickly you can learn the technical skills needed to become a safe and confident driver.

*This process is not standard for each student. Each student will be evaluated and taught on an individualized basis.

Example: Behind-The-Wheel Driving Lessons/ Driver’s License Center

At Cindy Cohen School Of Driving, we customize each lesson to fit each student’s experience and needs. Below, we have created an example of what you may cover in three lessons of behind-the-wheel training.

1st Lesson: Vehicle Controls
  • Horn
  • Turn signals
  • Hazard lights (4-way flashers)
  • Low- and high-beam headlights
  • Parking lights
  • Parking brake (emergency hand brake)
  • Defrost
  • Windshield wipers/washers
  • Brakes and gas control
  • Wheel control and the hand-over-hand technique

*Students will only progress to “Controlling the Vehicle” once they have mastered the content included in Vehicle Controls.

2nd Lesson: Controlling The Vehicle
  • Fundamentals of parallel parking
  • How to control the vehicle in a small, confined area.
  • Learning to drive in the city.
    Proper use of the mirrors, yielding, lane changes, merging, etc.

*Different routes are used for highway lessons depending on the traffic in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas.

3rd Lesson: Highway Lesson
  • Fundamentals of Entering Highways-Merge Points and Acceleration Ramps
  • Lane changes, mirror use, passing trucks & buses safely(awareness of their blind spots/No-Zone), and maneuvering the vehicle while maintaining highway speeds.
  • Fundamentals of Exiting Highway- Speed Control, Safe Following Distance, Steering your way out of an Emergency, & Work Zone Traffic Laws
  • Students are also taught how to proceed & react to the following circumstances:  School Bus Stops, Snow Plows, Oversized Loads, Sharing the road with Pedestrians & Bicyclists, What to do after a crash/collision, Emergency Vehicles & Situations, Railroad Crossings, Vehicle Failure responses.
Take your PA-Driver’s Exam at Cindy Cohen School of Driving, LLC
  • Why wait weeks to schedule a driver’s license exam! Call CCSOD, and you can schedule your road test 2 days in advance.
  • You can schedule your road test at Cindy Cohen School of Driving
  • For more information on PennDOT testing, please call us at 412.580.0027
  • Alternative Pennsylvania driver’s license exams can be provided at the PennDOT Department of Motor Vehicles in Allison Park, Bridgeville, Penn Hills, New Kensington.

*This process is not standard for each student. Each student will be evaluated and taught on an individualized basis.