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DrivePass Essential
Recommended Beginner Driver Education (BDE) Course Package for Those with Some Driving Skills
Essential Package Description
DrivePass Essential offers ministry approved Beginner Driver Education course designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become confident and safe drivers.
The package covers key aspects of driving, including road safety education, practical in-car lessons, and drive test preparation, all tailored to individual experience levels.
The package covers key aspects of driving, including road safety education, practical in-car lessons, and drive test preparation, all tailored to individual experience levels.
Who is This Package for?
This package is best suited for those with ‘some’ driving skills. However, it may be suitable for completely novice drivers too who are quick learners or have a knack for driving.
Potential Benefits
- Discount in insurance premium*
- G2 Test 8 Months after G1 instead of 1 year
- Facility to take the drive test in driving instructor’s car
*Please contact your insurance company for eligibility and amount of discount.
What Does It Include?
- 30 Hours of Online Digital E-Learning from the comfort of Your Home
- 10 Hours of 1-on-1 In-car Training
- MTO BDE Certificate with No Extra Fee
- One practice/refresher driving lesson before the drive test
- Use of instructor’s car for drive test
What You Learn in Online Digital E-Learning?
Interspersed with various forms of information, including text, audio-visual aids, and games, your learning will be enforced through quizzes and other assessment tools. The online theory component is distributed as follows:
Perception
Rules
Components
Handling
Behaviour
Responsibilities
Sharing
Attention
Perception
Perception and Risk Management
- Safe and Proper Observation Skills
- Accurate Perception of Personal Limits, Abilities, and Risk Tolerance
- Accurate Risk Perception
- Recognition and Avoidance of Common Collision Situations
- Identification of Potential Hazards and Effective Response to Hazards
- Effective Decision-making to Ensure Safe Driving
- Minimized Risk Through Appropriate Driving Actions
Rules
Rules of the Road
- Traffic laws and regulations
- Traffic control devices (road signs)
Components
Vehicle and Its Components
- Use of basic vehicle components
- Pre-trip checks
Handling
Vehicle Handling
- Safe vehicle handling
- The effect of conditions
- Avoiding collisions
- Skid and slide control
Behaviour
Driver Behaviour
- Adjustment of Driving Behaviour Based on Driving Environment and Road Conditions
- Controlled Emotional Reactions Related to Driving
- Positive Driving Attitudes and Behaviour
- Responsible and Informed Decision Making
Responsibilities
Respect and Responsibilities
- Responding to Emergencies
- Leadership In Promoting Safe Driving
- Driving With Care For The Environment
- Lifelong Learning Approach To Driving
Sharing
Sharing the Road
- Cooperative Driving
- Communicating With Other Road Users
Attention
Attention
- Safe and Responsible Actions Related to Impaired Driving
- Managing Driver Distractions
What You Learn During In-Car Training?
Upon completion of 30 hours of digital theory course, you may start the in-car training with your driving instructor. Duration of in-car training as required by the MTO is 10 hours. During this practical training, you will learn the following:
Vehicle Control & Techniques
- Familiarity with the Vehicle: General familiarity with the vehicle’s controls and functions.
- Handling Steering Wheel and Controlling Speed: The correct way of handling steering wheel and varying speed by the use of gas and brake pedals.
- Mental coordination: The coordination required for driving that involves complex and rapid interaction between various cognitive, perceptual, and motor systems in the brain.
- Conscious Measures for Awareness: Scanning, checking mirrors and blind spots.
Road Signs and Traffic Laws
- Reinforcement of Traffic Signs and Signals: Developing a good understanding of different types of traffic signs, e.g., regulatory, warning, informational and directional, emergency etc.
- Rights-of-Way: Understanding and compliance of one’s own and others’ right-of-way.
Lane Discipline and Merging
- Driving on Main Roads and Highways: Maintaining speed and safe distance on main roads, highways, and freeways.
- Crossing Intersections: Approaching and crossing controlled and uncontrolled intersections.
- Turning: Scanning, signalling, checking blind spots, controlling speed while turning on controlled and uncontrolled intersections, and getting into the correct lane upon completion of turns.
- Lane Changes: Changing lanes while attaining the right speed and maintaining a safe space cushion.
Parking Techniques
- Hill Parking: The right way to park on uphill or downhill.
- Parallel Parking: Safe and efficient way to perform parallel parking.
- Parking: Parking in parking lots and other parking spaces.
- Emergency Pull Over/ Roadside Stop: Stopping/ pulling over on the roadside in case of need, or giving way to emergency vehicles.
- Three Point Turn: Turning around in streets.
Frequently Asked Questions & Answers:
How is DrivePass Essential different from DrivePass Basic?
In addition to what is offered in DrivePass Basic, students will have one driving lesson just before the drive test, which is cardinally important for many students to refresh all the maneuvers just before the test. Moreover, the students can use the instructor’s car for their drive test without paying anything extra.
Doesn’t the drive test centre provide a car to conduct the drive test?
No, all candidates coming in for the drive test are required to bring the vehicle in ‘working order’ for their respective drive tests.
How is it beneficial to take a drive test in the instructor’s car?
Usually, it’s helpful for new drivers to use the same vehicle for a driving test in which they get the training as it reduces the additional anxiety of a different vehicle’s drive and ‘feel’.
I have never sat in the driving seat in my life. Will this course be enough for me to learn to drive and get my driver’s licence?
Depending on the aptitude and experience, different people take varying lengths of time to become safe and confident drivers. In our experience, a significant number of novice drivers are able to pass their driving test after this course.
I learned basic driving skills with my parents while driving mostly in a parking lot. Will this course be enough for me to master driving?
‘Mastery’ although is a subjective term, it may take much longer and a lot of practice. This course generally enables those with some driving skills to be safe and confident drivers and pass the drive test in their first attempt.
I have a number of years of driving experience from another country. Should I still take this course?
Yes, driver education courses are recommended by the MTO for all age groups with a valid driver’s licence in Ontario. It’ll help you, on one hand, to get accustomed to traffic laws in Ontario rendering you a confident and safe driver and, on the other hand, potentially make you eligible for discounts in insurance premiums.
How much insurance discount will I get if I complete this course?
Insurance premiums are determined by insurance companies. Various factors, including the completion of an MTO approved driving course, are considered to determine the premium e.g., your age, gender, marital status, driving experience and record (if any), make, model, safety features, theft risk of your vehicle, expected mileage and commute, type of coverage etc. Please contact your insurance provider for exact details.
Is it obligatory to do a Beginner Driver Education course to get a driving licence in Ontario?
No, it is not obligatory to do a Beginner Driver Education course to get a driver’s licence in Ontario. It is, however, strongly recommended.