Safe Driver Academy

They like me. They really like me.

This morning my Safe Driver Academy received its 1,500th review.
And 1,498 of those reviews are 5 Stars!
Here is my 1,499th review, and it says a lot of the things I love to read:
"Ray's class was the most entertaining Safe Driver class I've experienced. The addition of humor made the 6 hours fly by. Ray is a compassionate and intuitive human who taught and encouraged all participants in a fun loving, inspirational manner.
I can highly recommend his class to everyone!"
- Nancy W., Orchard Park

To all my stick-shift friends... the stick stirrers... those with do-it-yourself transmissions and great handling nimble cars... DO NOT go for a drive immediately after watching Ford vs. Ferrari! This public service announcement brought to you by your friends at Safe Driver Academy.

Teaching today and tomorrow in Burmese for the Buffalo Myanmar Association - BMA.

A friend recently posted regarding people who make special trips to save on gas at the Reservation.
She cited someone who would take a 5-mile ride to save 20 cents on a gallon of gas.
So I decided to do some math:

1) If gas costs $3.29/gal. and your vehicle averages 25 mph, you are spending 13.16 cents per mile on fuel.

2) Assuming you don't live at that Reservation and actually have to drive back home after gassing up, you have gone 10 miles (round trip) which equates to 131.6 cents or $1.32 spent on fuel in order to save on fuel.

3) Let's assume you made that trip at an average speed of 30 mph (when factoring stops at lights, traffic, etc.). That equates to half-a-mile per minute or 20 minutes for the round trip.

4) Even if you earn only $20 per hour, 20 minutes of your extra time would equate to $6.67.

5) Add up the $1.32 in extra fuel spent and $6.67 of your time and you've come to $7.99 "invested" to save on fuel.

6) Let's say you drive a Toyota RAV4 with a 14.5 gallon tank and you arrive at the Reservation gas pumps bone dry. You would have to save $7.99/14.5 gallons to break even, or 55.1 cents per gallon.

7) In this scenario, therefore, the Reservation gas would have to be $2.74/gal. to break even.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but I'm not missing a lot in this calculation.

I guess some things aren't obvious. I'd recommend not driving during the eclipse.

Is it okay to drive during the solar eclipse in April? The totality will begin around 3:06 p.m. April 8, 2024.

Always a great crowd at the West Seneca Senior Center!

What's cooler than being named the Valedictorian at a Safe Driver Academy Fun Defensive Driving Class? When you and your better half won the same honors at a previous Safe Driver Academy class. Congrats Debbie and Dan. You are both driving rock stars!

I absolutely love the Reviews I receive from my Defensive Driving students. Gotta' love this latest one:
"We so very much enjoyed your informative, educational and entertaining class. After putting off this course for so long, I was amazed at how much we were pleasantly surprised. You are one talented man, and we laughed so much as we were learning that I told my husband it felt like we’d been on a date. Thanks, again. We will see you in three years if the good Lord is willing and the creek doesn’t rise."
- Dorothy and Paul D., Cheektowaga

Very big and very engaged class today at the West Seneca Senior Center. One of the coolest things about today's class is that one of the students was a former Impaired Driving Class instructor.

When you have website created for your small business, you get inundated with solicitations to improve your placement in Google listings, which is important.

I receive multiple such proffers daily.

Today I decided to finally respond to one.

Following is what I wrote. Let me know if you think it will yield any useful info:

"I receive no fewer than 20 of these "offers" per day, so don't ask me why but today I've finally decided to respond to one.

But here's the deal: Like most normal humans I detest a silly back-and-forth clearly designed to confuse, obfuscate and trick (very) small business owners into bad decisions.

What will this cost and what do I get? Please be concise.

I'm sure you're cool, but understand that I've heard it all, seen it all and wasted my money on all of it before."

How did I celebrate the 10th Anniversary of my first Safe Driver Academy defensive driving class? By teaching members of the Buffalo Myanmar Association at Lin's Restaurant across from Riverside Park... oh, the class was mostly presented in Burmese. Easy? Nope. An absolute joy? Fo sho! They must've enjoyed it as they booked me for 3 more classes this year!

Couldn't tell ya' why, but as far as Alcohol-related crashes, next Tuesday should be one of the safest driving days of the year... as well as the remaining Tuesdays in February. Be on guard Saturdays in July and August!

Too bad nobody enjoyed my Defensive Driving Class in Clarence today.

Friends, for the first time in a long time I have an upcoming Saturday class with available seats.
They usually fill up way in advance.
If you've been thinking about taking my class, maybe it's time to stop thinking and attend!
SATURDAY, FEB. 3rd at the Hampton Inn Buffalo-Amherst (close to UB's football stadium in Williamsville).
The normal fee is $45 per person, but if you sign up through Facebook, I'll offer a special rate of $39 or two or more at once for $35 each.
There are currently 15 seats remaining.
Fight that Winter-long Cabin Fever!
The class is a blast (read the reviews!) and will knock 10% off your auto and motorcycle insurance bill for the next 3 years and can also reduce up to 4 points from your DMV driving record.
Just PM me or leave a note here to be contacted.

Another great Company Class today, this time at Wendt's Propane and Oil in Sanborn. Always great to see company leadership and team members who take safety seriously.

I had a Burmese-American family take my Defensive Driving Class in South Buffalo last month.
They Loved it!
Now they want me to offer regular monthly classes to the local Burmese-American community with an interpreter.
Game on!
Can't wait and we start Feb. 13th and 14th from 6 to 9 each evening in Riverside.
Cooler still is that Feb. 14th is the 10th Anniversary of the 1st class I ever taught!

Only the Sunshine State could have such ludicrous law on the books. Then again this is the state that essentially doesn’t like many books at all.

A lot of fun with yesterday's and today's Defensive Driving Class held at the Cheektowaga Senior Center. Hats off to our Class Valedictorian, Ziggy, who surprised 'em all by being a big-time tech-savvy senior. In fact, he helped me with the audio for the class. Nice Job!

One-Liners Day is celebrated every year on January 21st. Of course, Safe Driver academy offers New York State DMV's only approved Humor-Based defensive driving class.
In fact--TRUE STORY--this course was started by the Improv Comedy Club as a way to give aspiring comics more time in front of audiences as a way to hone their craft.

Introduced in Germany during the N**i regime as the The People’s Car, the Volkswagen Type 1--commonly referred to as the Beetle--started rolling off the assembly line in mass quantities following World War II. The Beetle eventually became the best-selling vehicle of all time to date, surpassing the Model T in 1972. However, on this day in 1978 the last Beetle off a German assembly line. Production would continue outside of Germany until July 30, 2003 when the last Beetle, number 21,529,464, rolled out of a production facility in Puebla, Mexico.

Actually, we just don't teach on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

It’s Buffalo. It snows. We know how to deal with it.
Part of dealing with it is keeping only the necessary vehicles on the road.
Below is a description of those who fall into the category of Essential Workers that are allowed to be on the roads during a Travel Ban.
Note: An Essential Worker is not allowed to be on the road to go for a joy ride; you must be in pursuit of, travel to or travel back from that mission.
For more information:
Your employer can register you as an essential worker with the Erie County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Service. Visit www.erie.gov/dhses

A great Safe Driving Class for a great company... thanks for having me back for a second time. If you are part of a company, send me a message about holding a Defensive Driving Class for your team. As you can tell by the smiling faces, a lot of fun was had and a lot of money is being saved!

THE TIMING IS GREAT TO CELEBRATE
NATIONAL POETRY AT WORK DAY.
Cleaning out the Basement over the weekend,
I tripped upon an old galley sheet for paste-up from my 1986-87 stint as Editor of The Downtown Student Press at ECC City Campus.

It is a poem I wrote back then based on a recent experience with my old Buick and driving in dicey Buffalo snowy conditions.

For better or worse, I share it here with you:

First class back in over 3 weeks... I was goin' nuts, but this class was worth the wait. Congrats to Valedictorian, Frank. Carmen, sorry we didn't get to line dance. Elaine and RaeQuon, next time I'm gonna' have to separate you two! Sign up and Laugh Your Points Off!