Lord Ashley Driving School

We are continuing to monitor the weather conditions as Debby moves closer to the Charleston area. Remember that the safety of our instructors and students is our utmost concern.

As of right now, the class in-person on Saturday, August 10th is still being held. Should there be any changes, we will reach out to all registered students.

Send a message to learn more

With the upcoming weather and possible signal outages, remember, flashing traffic signals are treated as flashing traffic signals. Signals with no lights illuminated should be treated as 4-way stops.

With that being said, don't assume the other drivers know the rules! Protect yourself out there and try to avoid erratic maneuvers.

Stay aware and stay safe!

We are urging everyone to stay off the roads when the storm arrives. Please do not drive through flooded streets or around barricades. Any closures will be updated on social media. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Good evening everyone! For those who have lessons Tuesday, we are keeping an eye on the potential major storms that are predicted to hit us. At this time lessons will still be conducted.

We will continue to keep everyone updated. If you'd like to reschedule your lesson, please reach out to the office on Monday if at all possible.

We appreciate your understanding in our goal of keeping our students safe.

We're looking for someone motivated to help teach students the fundamentals of driving! Our school strives to provide the best and most knowledgeable instructors for our students. If you are motivated to learn our techniques and help young people (some older ones too) how to become safe, knowledgeable and confident drivers, please send us your information. It's not nearly as scary as you might think!

Must have a clean driving record and at least 10 years of driving experience. Punctual and willing to learn are a must!

This opportunity offers flexible scheduling. Nights and weekend are necessary during the school year.

Lord Ashley Driving School has been around since 1954 teaching Low Country new drivers how to be collision free. We teach everything needed for the driving test, but we don't teach only the driving test, we teach the defensive driving skills needed to be on the roads today. We also partner with Roper Hospital to evaluate and teach drivers how to use adaptive controls (hand controls, etc.) or re-teach driving after medical issues like strokes, TBI, etc.

We work with drivers of all levels of experience and with a variety of special needs (ADHD, ASD, anxiety, physical limitations, and more!). We don't expect students to have driving experience before getting into a car with us! We also encourage parents to ride along during lessons to see what and how we teach so they can work with their new driver in between lessons.

While our schedule is packed right now with students trying to get their licenses before school starts, it's never a bad time to start looking for fall and winter driver training spaces. Our in-person and virtual class schedule is planned out through April 2025 - register for our Fall, Winter, or Spring classes now and make payments until class time! Driver training makes a great gift for the Holidays, too!

Reach out to us online www.alordashley.com or give our office a call at 843-824-2040 to learn more, ask questions, or get a student signed up for an upcoming class!

aLord Ashley Driving School Add description here

Reminder to those on the road - over the next few weeks, many students will be out taking their driving tests with a driving school in the area.

If you see a driving school car and it's not turning when you think it should, driving slower than you think is acceptable (like the actual speed limit), etc., there is a high chance the student is taking their driving test and the instructor is unable to give them corrections.

Please be patient, we know it may be somewhat inconvenient, but honking at them does not do anything but make them more anxious.

Thank you as we help get the next generation of drivers on the road.

Lord Ashley Driving School

Wishing all the moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day!!!

Please plan ahead as the will be closed Friday, May 10th for a state holiday. Visit our website for our numerous online services or our kiosks, https://www.scdmvonline.com/

New services are available in grocery stores even when branch offices are closed for weekends or holidays like today. Kiosks are open in Columbia, Greer and Summerville with more coming soon! Find one near you at SCDMVExpress.com.

Merry Christmas to everyone!! Please note that Lord Ashley Driving School offices will be closed Sat. 12/23 until Wed. 1/3/2024 (office will open by appt. only during this time) Voicemails and Emails will be monitored during this time.

***All scheduled driving lessons, Driving test and 8 hour classroom dates will be conducted as scheduled***

Just a reminder, if the lights are not working (no lights illuminated) the intersection is to be treated as an All Way Stop. If lights are blinking, treat as if always blinking. Flashing yellow should use caution proceeding through the intersection, flashing red needs to stop until clear to proceed!

I just saw a truck run the intersection where the lights are not functioning and the city even put up temporary stop signs! He passed within 20 feet of the sign!

Now through December 8th, Lord Ashley Driving School will be accepting toys for Toys for Tots, please drop off your new, unwrapped toys and we will deliver them to the Toy Shop. We are proud supporters of the Marine Corps League and the annual Toys for Tots drive.

Toys can be dropped off during regular business hours - thank you!

We often see posts seeking recommendations for driving schools and in the comments there is usually someone who just tells the parents to do it and driving schools don't teach anything. While we agree that many driving schools only prepare students for the driving test, that is not the case with our school.

Many driving schools tell parents the student should have a certain amount of experience before attending their school. That's like a sports coach telling a kid they need to be proficient in a sport before joining a team! We welcome students with all experience levels. We want to work as a team with our students and their parents so students develop the required critical thinking skills necessary to be a safe, knowledgeable and assertive driver.

Parents are always welcome to ride along with their child and the instructor to see how we teach the skills we teach. We know some schools discourage this and we don't understand why. Some schools have told us the parents can be disruptive. Our experience with parents in the car has always been positive and we can see the difference in the student's skill level from one lesson to the next. Oftentimes parents will say they even learned something new when doing a ride along with us!

We also work on continuing education to stay on top of teaching techniques for all students and specialty training for students with unique challenges like ASD, anxiety, ADHD, etc.

In South Carolina, 15- & 16-year-old drivers must complete a driver education course. Every prospective driver must hold their beginner's permit for a minimum of 180 days before being eligible to take the skills (road) test. The 180-day period is meant to provide the necessary time to seek instruction and practice their skills. We want to work with you throughout the 180 days to ensure skills and habits are correct from the beginning and not something we have to correct right before attempting the road test.

aLord Ashley Driving School has been teaching in the Charleston area since 1954 and as vehicle technology changes, and our roads become busier, we look forward to continuing to evolve to teach our students how to be confident and safe drivers!

The other night when I showed up to my student's house and met mom and the student, I could tell the student was frustrated that she needed to do more lessons after completing a course with another driving school. I was able to change her attitude toward the lesson very quickly after getting her into the driver's seat and showing her how easy a maneuver is when doing it the way we teach. By the end of the lesson, she was smiling and drove more confidently and was happy she had done the lesson.

One of my greatest joys in teaching driver education is when I can help a student 'get it' and see the change in their demeanor. I'm proud of what I do and I'm glad that I can help students understand the fundamentals of driving. No matter where a student thinks they are at in the learning experience, I can provide greater detail and insight to help them become safer and more confident behind the wheel.

South Carolina:
If a roadway has FOUR or more lanes across and a school bus is stopped, traffic approaching the school bus in the opposite direction can proceed through.
Traffic going in the same direction as the bus must stop.
🛣🚍📚🛑

We just saw a post on a page stating that another school told a parent that their student needed to "get comfortable with driving" before they would start lessons (the student has completed their 8-hour course).

Coaches don't expect players of a sport to know how to play before they come onto the field the first time, why should a driving SCHOOL expect a new driver to be comfortable with driving before TEACHING them?

THIS is why driving schools aren't seen as valuable by so many! A true "driving school" should be able to take a student with NO driving experience and actually teach them.

At Lord Ashley Driving School we will take students with zero experience and at any comfort level and work with them. We will ask students to practice with an experienced driver in between lessons to become more proficient, but we would NEVER tell a parent to "get the student comfortable" before starting lessons! That's OUR job!

It's Charleston's Choice time! Nominations are happening until June 11 and voting begins on June 21! Help us take the top spot again this year!

https://bit.ly/ccballot23

Braxton is out of the office today for another medical procedure. We will make every attempt to monitor voicemails and emails. If you call in, please leave a voicemail or we won't know to get back to you.

Braxton is back in the office today! The phones will still be off to allow him to catch up on all of the calls from the end of last week and the weekend! Thank you for your patience! Phones will be back to normal tomorrow.

I was driving home last night after my lessons and I passed a young man in the left lane on the interstate going slightly under the speed limit with his dome light on after dark.

South Carolina law is that you must stay right unless passing while on limited access highways (interstates). Also, when driving after dark, you should decrease the amount of light inside your vehicle so you can see better outside your vehicle. The more ambient light inside your vehicle (dash lights, cell phones) the harder it is to see outside your vehicle.

I hope this information gets to this young man before these things become a habit for him.

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Some food for thought from the Traffic Safety Education Foundation

No More Excuses - Traffic Safety Education Foundation This is "No More Excuses - Traffic Safety Education Foundation" by TSEF.org on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

January is Teen Driving Awareness Month! Help us spread awareness about the risks associated with novice drivers by having conversations about safe driving habits with your teen today. SADD Nation NOYS Governors Highway Safety Association We Save Lives South Carolina dmv North Carolina Department of Transportation Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles NH Division of Motor Vehicles Maine Bureau of Highway Safety Vermont DMV MassDOT Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles Iowa Department of Transportation Wisconsin Department of Transportation Minnesota Department of Transportation

I had the mother of one of my students tell me today that another driving school didn't want the student until they could drive at least 45 mph and had some experience! I thought my job was to be the instructor!

At Lord Ashley Driving School, driving experience is not necessary to start training with us. We would like to use the 180 day practice period mandated by South Carolina for 15 & 16 year olds to work with you to bring your student's knowledge and skill level to where they need to be to pass the road test when they become eligible to test.

If the school wants the student to already be "proficient" in your eyes before training them, what are they bringing to the table?

Our instructors can work with anxiety, ADHD/ADD, Asperger's / Autism and lack of experience! Want to see how we do it? A parent / legal guardian is always welcome to ride along on the lessons!

Visit SCDPS Welcome to Our Site! The mission of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety is to protect and serve the public with the highest standard of conduct and professionalism; to save lives through educating its citizens on highway safety and diligent enforcement of laws governing traffic, motor veh...

If you are Military / Veteran or know someone who is - here is some good information on available military license plates and the waiving of parking meter fees for some!

SC Military License Plates – Beaufort South Carolina The Island News Larry Dandridge SC Military License Plates January 25, 2023 Contributors/Larry Dandridge/Military According to the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV) website (https://bit.ly/3ZWkVHk) and SCDMV Form MV-37, there are 43 different types of S.C. Military Plates for vehicles. Some of those plates....

Each year the SC Dept of Public Safety issues their Crash Facts report. 2020 is the latest version. The numbers in this picture are why we take our profession so seriously. Drivers aren't getting better at driving. Thankfully, car manufacturers are working hard to make vehicles safer for us. It's time we do our part and get better at controlling our vehicles, reducing distractions and reducing or eliminating the deaths on our highways.

Due to an emergency with a member of our team, we have to close our office early today. Thank you for your understanding!