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Listen to the episode
Driving Profile: Key
(sneak peek)
KEY: one of my students fell asleep while
driving. And I noticed one time they went over to the side and I was like, you
okay. And they didn’t answer me and the car literally slowed down and stopped
and I looked over and he was asleep
(intro music)
BHAVNEET: Welcome back to another episode of drive
with this podcast. I’m Bhavneet.
TARANJIT: And I’m taranjit. And we’re super
excited to have you ride with us as our drivers, take us on some adventurous
drives around the.
BHAVNEET: A little quick car he’d been before we
meet today’s driver. We’re starting to line up guests for season six. So if you
or anybody, you know, would be interested in coming on the show, you can fill
out the interest form in the show notes below, or visit our
website@drivewithuspodcast.com.
We look forward to
hearing from you.
TARANJIT: And now let’s meet today’s driver key.
Another fellow Marylander, Marilyn Key born in Washington. DC is a project
management professional instructional designer and certified driving instructor
who owns a Maryland base driving school called aspire driving academy.
Here’s key.
(transition music)
BHAVNEET: Welcome key to Drive With Us Podcast.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
KEY: Thank you for having me. It’s an honor.
TARANJIT: We’re so excited to hear not only about
your crazy driving stories, but also your background. So before we dive into
those crazy driving stories, tell us a little bit about your driving career or
your driving by.
KEY: well, I’ve been driving since I was 15
years old and nine months, as soon as I was eligible to get my learner’s
permit, I was at the motor vehicle administration. I’ve been driving for, I’m
not gonna tell you how many years we don’t need to know My it’s been a little
while now.
TARANJIT: I know you have your very own driving
school. Tell us a little bit about that and how you start.
KEY: I went to the university of Southern
California for. My master’s in education, learning, design and technology. And
there, I learned how to design education programs. So that is my passion. I
designed education programs of all different sorts. And I always saw
advertisements for driving schools. Like they posted announcements, like we’ll
pay you, you know, this amount of money to design a job of school, program.
And I was like,
ah, it must be very lucrative if that’s the case, but in the end, what really
drove me to deal with. I was trying to help one of my friends out and we was
trying to think of some ideas and we stumbled upon this commercial property
that was released. And I honestly believe God just put it in my heart, like,
oh, do a driving school.
And it just all
came back to me. And I started the job in school and it has been a wild ride
ever since.
TARANJIT: I can imagine, especially During the
pandemic. I can imagine how crazy
that must’ve been.
KEY: Yeah, I was led by. My motivation to
help people. Most of all, I wanted to do something that was going to have an
impact on others. Like their actual lives. I wanted to teach them life skills
that could change their lives for the better, something that people would
remember, their whole lives.
And everybody
remembers the job in school experience. a drama school was just perfect from
the beginning. Everything fits together. And when it’s meant to be, it all
comes through.
BHAVNEET: And especially since you’re in Maryland,
kudos to you all how to drive. I think you’re near the DC area, right?
KEY: yes, you can always tell the Spire
drivers from everyone else.
TARANJIT: you are also a certified driving
instructor yourself in addition to the school.
KEY: Yes I am. That’s been a very interesting
experience. It takes about six months just to get certified in the state of
Maryland. It’s a very long process. It starts with training and going back
through driving school from the instructor standpoint this time. So not as a
student, but more so observing how you would teach and the, , instructional
methods.
And then you end
up going and taking a lot of test where you have to know the law around being a
driving instructor And the driving manual in Maryland as well. you take this
law test and then they actually observe you teaching behind the wheel and in
the classroom. The first time they observe you is just kind of a mock setting
with no classroom, but then they actually come back and observe you again,
after you attend advanced instructor training.
So you attend
events, restrict to China to learn. Those techniques that we really really use
with behind the wheel. And even in class with modeling certain traffic
scenarios and things like that. , it’s very informative and it’s fun in itself.
But after that, they come back out and
they actually
observe as teaching. In the classroom setting and behind the wheels, and then
you can finally be a certified driving instructor.
So it’s a bit of a
process, but we haven’t been able to get a few people, through it so far, we
still have more people going through it. We’re excited about the future and how
many more driving instructors we can bring on board.
TARANJIT: That is exciting. Do you have to renew
this certification or is it like a once and done
deal?
KEY: It does have to be renewed. And if you
miss that renewal date, yes, it has to be renewed every so often, every few
years.
BHAVNEET: That’s a very intense certification
process. I mean, it’s good that it is because you don’t want just anyone
getting behind the wheel and teaching you how to drive.
KEY: That’s very true, very true. But it
also, , it gets a little difficult from an employer standpoint and no one I’m
new to this, it’s like, , how do you retain people? Why they go through this
lengthy, , train them process and apprenticeship process to finally become
certified. But I wish I’d have found a way to make it fun and exciting along
the way.
TARANJIT: If you had to describe a day in the life
of a driving instructor, how would you
BHAVNEET: describe that?
KEY: the day life of a driving instructor,
did you ever go to sleep? Is the first question. The second question would be.
You’re probably waking up, not from your alarm or from a student calling or
texting you for who knows what is probably something that could wait to two
o’clock in the afternoon, but different people have different times of the day
they work best.
And some students
call you it’s six o’clock in the morning. And some of them call you at 11:00 PM
and literally both call you though. It’s like, , you’re handling it all day
long and they call you for all the types of things. Sometimes they just have
questions. Sometimes they just need reassured.
And sometimes,
they just built a bond where they used to talking to you have students who’ve
already gotten their license and they still call. I have a student who texted
me the other day asking me about tags. Like I literally don’t work for the
motor vehicle administrators. And so I don’t know everything they do there, but
I didn’t know the answer to her question.
But it’s really
fun. The day of the life of a driving instructor starts with students
contacting you in the. I’m probably calling the motor vehicle administration to
ask them some type of questions to make sure you’re compliant. Like we try to
make sure we’re fully compliant with the MBA at all times.
So if they tell us
to go left, we’re going to that immediately. They tell us to go, right. We’re
going right. I always make sure, , we have that?
relationship that.
Open communication where just, speaking to let me know what I need beforehand,
or, throughout the process so that I don’t get out of compliance.
You got to have car insurance, you gotta have
all of these things. So I’m handling like those business items. During the day
while students are calling why new students are enrolling, , and most of all.
One stuff right. Taking students out to drive. So I actually can see each
classroom instruction, but most days I teach behind the wheel and we have other
driving instructors to teach classroom instruction.
Thank God, then
this’ll get at it. But I really do prefer being behind the wheel with students.
It gives you an opportunity, like, am I a driving instructor or am I a
therapist? And it gives them an opportunity to just, , let out whatever, if
it’s some frustrations, if it’s literally. their aspirations
that’s the number
one thing we’re always asking them about. why do you want to get your driver’s
license? What’s motivating you to go to driving school at this time. once you
start asking them questions, they’re going to start letting it all out. Some people
are like, well, , I’m in school.
All my friends
have their license. Then you have other things. Who are like, you know, I just
had a child and I want to make sure I can take it wherever it needs to go. And
some people are like, well, I want to drive professionally. I have a job
opportunity. You people going away to school and want to be able to go back and
forth.
Some people just want to compete with their
kids. They haven’t driven their whole lives, but now their, their son just
turned 60 and they’re like, I want to get them on board. So you see the
craziest things go on. I’m just constantly, , in close contact with them and
that’s the best part of it.
I teach them how
to drive, , and then asked about paperwork, the records, all of the ugly stuff
that no one wants to tell you about. Have to get that stuff done as well. Meet
with my team, put out fires. And then finally at like eight 30, I’m trying to
wind out and just as I try to wind down, I correct.
BHAVNEET: Super crazy, but sounds super rewarding.
KEY: it is because at the end of the day, I
get just as many messages from the students saying, Hey, I just passed my
driving, my job and task. Thank you so much for everything. They’re like, Oh, I
knew I could do it. Oh, you made me so comfortable. And it’s just like every.
Every bit of feedback helps,
I love it. That’s the best part, when they
send us the pictures when their parents are like, thank you so much. A lot of
parents think their children have learning disabilities a lot of times in the
education system, they’re just not getting the right type of attention or not.
Format that,
Lynn’s best to them. So that’s what we specialize in at aspire. We offer
tutoring.
We offer a literal
study and time to get ready for your learners, permit, a lot of parents have
come back and been like, you know what? I thought my child had a learning
disability, but here you go, you got them right through the whole process. They
got their learner’s permit. They got their driver’s license.
You made the same
easy, like, yeah, we took the time they get to know your child and, make it
relevant to them our instructors are amazing. They use all the type of,
instructional methods. We have an instructor, Mr. Tony, that everyone loves,
and , he uses like your music.
To kind of SU students
on the break and calm them and get them to open up.
BHAVNEET: Oh, man. I wish I came to your driving
TARANJIT: school.
KEY: That’s when we will. That’s what we like
to hear. Literally.
TARANJIT: My driver’s ed experience. I felt like
it was a waste of money. I didn’t get any, yeah, I know your, the way you’re
describing yours, I’m just like, I wish I
had that.
KEY: Yeah. We’ve been able to do some really
fun things in the state of Maryland. They are very strict about what you teach
and how you teach it. We’ve been actually able to get some really hard
approvals from the Marella MBA to incorporate some stuff into our curriculum.
So it’s been really good, we’re making great progress.
And I think our
students like want to reap the benefits of everything that we’re implementing.
TARANJIT: That’s so amazing. I wish you pretend
you to get all of these. Maybe get some more words that too. How would you
describe your actual, the first time you got behind the wheel with a student?
What was that like?
BHAVNEET: You
KEY: Uh, good question, John prepared. Okay.
I don’t remember my first student, I’m not going to name her by name, but she
was so sweet and she was so nervous. She had anxiety around, , driving because,
oh, this is funny. She had it. Not her is funny. It’s funny because people
always entrepreneurs always told me, you remember your first sale and I never
believed them.
But now that she
just asked me, I’m like, yeah, I definitely remember. So that’s what made me
laugh. It was funny, but she had really bad anxiety around driving. And I think
she had been in a car accident really bad, when she was younger and she just
didn’t care to drive at all. Now she was ready to drive.
I would pick her
up. Cause we, we provide pickup service for behind the goal of driving. So I
would pick her up from home and we would drive around. We would pack this
parking, of course, you know, practice everything. A to Z, but it was just such
a good experience because of the connection.
Literally it was
the bond that was being built and she made it easy for me. it was her
personality. It was how she was just open to learning and feedback. And once I,
, started teaching more and more, I realized when you’re in this position of
authority as a driving instructor, they trust you in that way.
And so her trust
made me more comfortable. And that break, that instructor made me most
comfortable because if I needed to an emergency, I could just press the
instructor break and make sure that, nothing happened. And we also, if
necessary, we’ll grab the steering wheel, but I don’t have.
to do that, most
times, because, we teach them well before he gets to that.
And now she has a
license. She prepared me for the rest of my students. And she’s the one who
told me that, , building that bond, that connection and talking to them is what
calms everything down and builds the trust and the comfort is what allows them
to drive safe.
Sometimes when
people’s parents teach them. Or their spouses teach them. They’re more nervous.
They’re not comfortable. They’re scared they’re gonna get in trouble or
something. That’s what I make sure that I work on first. So that when they do
get behind the wheel, even when I’m not in the car, I tell them I’m there for.
It’s driving
mother when I’m not with them, they still hear me in the back of your head.
Like, oh, use your turn signal to me, make sure you’re working, going into the
apex of the turn. Make a complete stop at the stop sign. And he tell me, even
when I’m gone, like, yeah, I heard your voice.
I’m like, you
better Have you worked on it a million times?
TARANJIT: Have you ever had any scary or
interesting driving experiences
with students?
KEY: I’ve had so many everything’s scary. No,
no, no. Everybody always tells me, you must be really scared. You gotta have a
good heart to be a driving instructor. Cause it must be really scary. And I’m
like, I guess it is, but no more scary than driving with y’all. So at least the
students are on their best behavior. And I would say some of the scariest job
and experiences
I’ve had have not
been with students?
have been with,
people who are licensed and comfortable behind the wheel. But the most scary
incident I’ve had with a student was probably merging onto the highway.
, and in Maryland,
in particular, we don’t have very nice drivers. I teach my students not to be
aggressive, but to be assertive because if you do not in this area, you will
not be able to. in theory, when you put a turning signal on, you should be able
to, maybe slow up, look over and see if you can get over, but what are they
going to do here in this area?
They’re going to
speed up and make sure that you can’t get over it. So I try to teach them to be
assertive. And so we were merging once to the hallway. They just were a little
more nervous. Sometimes the drivers behind you are in a rush, . And they cut in
front of you when you’re merging over and a student who’s just starting.
Won’t know how to
handle that though. We might. And that was the exact scenario. And there were
other cars coming after that eager car. And, it was just nervous and we almost
hit a car and it was just very nerve wrecking, but that was probably the
scariest experience I’ve had with the student
oh no. No way
scarier than that, students who stop while drive it in the middle of the street
in neighborhoods, on a highway. Yes on highways, literally, wherever that
that’s the scariest thing you can do to me, like literally if we’re on a
highway and you’re merging, you’re coming to a stop, I’m like, Oh, no, no, no,
we speed up, slow down.
But if you slow
down, you’re going to run out a merge lane, lane is going to end and you won’t
be able to merge. students who stop when other cars are expecting you to
continue to go like. And the intersection those times, that’s what scares me
the most because I’m like, these drivers are not paying attention are, , in a
rush and somebody is going to run right into us.
BHAVNEET: Oh, that’s crazy. Just thinking about
like, I’ve seen cars that have come to a stop on a merge lane and is like, why
did you do that? Now? They’re just sitting there and all these other cars are
coming on. The on-ramp after them. We’re just going. Cause it’s like, well,
you’re never going to make it in now.
KEY: agree. Agree. And that’s exactly What I
tell them. It’s going to be much harder than rejoin traffic from zero miles of
plow. But when everyone else is going to supposed to be going 50, 60, right.
Really going 70, 80. So you’re trying to go from zero to 70, 80. That’s not
going to work. That’s why we was picking up speed whenever.
We’re straightened
out and we’re coming off of the ramp into the weed lane. We’re starting to pick
up our speed so that we can begin summers. Of course, we’re looking into our
blast spot over our shoulder, my turn signals already on and we’re over there.
We’re not taking a long time. The Chinese lanes where one second, two seconds,
three seconds.
We’re over there
by the four seconds.
TARANJIT: What would you say is your most favorite
part and your least favorite part of being a driving
instructor?
KEY: That’s not what the least favorite. So
we get in on a good note. My least favorite part of being a driving instructor
is wow. It’s not the driving instructor stuff. That bothers me. It’s the owner
stuff that bothers me, the records, the compliance, the state records, the IRS
records, you know what I mean? All of these things that you have to do in
entrepreneurship. The driving instructor part is fun, but I will come up with
something.
My least favorite thing about being a job and
instructor is. Students who don’t understand the time constraints, or don’t
even respect the time. So we can only offer so many lessons at a time. And
sometimes students are like, oh, I can’t make it today. , give me a lesson
tomorrow. I’m like, we got like so hard for students to schedule and be like,
look the month in advance.
So it’s like
trying to navigate. Giving them what they need, meeting their needs. Your
driving test is coming up. I’m going to make sure that you get the appointment
that you need by the time you need it. But, sometimes it’s going to fall on me
to give up some of my personal time and not only me, the other driving
instructors they’re given up personal time as well.
We’re just trying
to make things work.
BHAVNEET: yeah. I bet you have so much to me. And
especially in Maryland, everyone’s like, please teach me how to drive in this
crazy world.
KEY: Yeah. So we service all of Merlin, of
course, but mostly prince George’s county and Baltimore biggest supporters. We
love both. I would go to war over both. Like literally we love them so much.
They’re our biggest supporters. The best thing about being a driving
instructor. If the PE I told you if the people is when they tell me like, oh, I
got the job or I’m sitting there and we’re talking about how to get your
license, but then I’m also telling you, , your career path, like, oh, you know
what?
You can do this,
this you’re interested in that. Let’s put that with that, , go to school for
that we’re talking about our experiences. I’m learning from them. It’s being in
the car with them is literally just getting. Experienced all of their
knowledge, There are different personalities. It’s building those connections.
The best part about being a driving instructor is the students and my team.
They’re hilarious. They’re talented. They’re skilled. I wish I could spend more
time with them, but we’re all spending so much time with the students that, we
don’t always get to spend as much time with each other, but the best part is
the people.
TARANJIT: That’s amazing. I’m glad you enjoy what
you do.
What are some
skills that you think should be taught in driver’s ed? There might not
always be.
KEY: That’s a really good question. It’s
like, how would I know what I might be. neglecting? . I think maybe we teach
about police interactions. I think that we should teach about what to do in car
accidents. So we just barely, graced the surface of car accidents and the
curriculum. In Germany, They have a way more intense driver’s education
program, period. . So I know that it’s a lot of things lacking from our
programs here. And so I would love to even have the freedom to one day, explore
all of those things and just to go to different places and learn how they learn
to drive and to bring some of those things back and incorporate them into our
curriculum.
And close that gap.
BHAVNEET: Yeah, we had a guest who’s in Spain and
she said their tests is way more intensive. And they actually make you learn a
lot more about car mechanics and that’s on the driving test. And I was like,
well, that’s very useful in a sense, like, you should know how to change your
tires. You should know how to do these different things.
We also had a guest say that, they should
teach defensive driving. Do you think that’s something that should be added
into drivers?
KEY: Yes, but in a way we, we do, and it
happens behind the wheel more so, so yes, I agree. It should probably be in the
curriculum as well, but we do cover it behind. Because you have to, you’re
going to get your chance so experiences.
I do think, , a
lot of things is not covered. Like you said, the physics of driving and things
like that. Students they don’t oftentimes know that, when you’re going into a
turn, you should be braking going into the apex gliding and then. Celebrating
coming out and I’m trying to teach them like, they’re doing us a NASCAR.
Like you cannot
skip the breaking portion. You need that traction.
TARANJIT: Yeah, I agree with that. so you know
how, like on the Maryland tests, they remove the parallel parking portion, What
are your thoughts on this? Is this something that you feel like should still be
on
the test?
KEY: Don’t get me like, you know, I’m friends
with that. I’m starting to see on the NBA, good side. I’m not gonna critique
their tests, but I will say this. If you live in Maryland, you’re going to DC.
And if you’re in DC, you’re going to be parallel pocket. So whether it’s on a
test or not, you will be tested. I could say.
It should be on
the test, but it’s a million other things that aren’t, that you will encounter
as well. And they’re not even going out onto the road anymore. So there’s so
much that’s lacking. I have students who pass. Not even my students, but I’ve
watched the driving, says all the time, like I know a weird past time, but of
course I’m a driving instructor.
So I go up there and
I’ll just watch. And so I’ll see students and I can tell because I do this all
day, who can drive and who can’t, The students who can’t drive will pass their
driving test, cause they’re careful taking their time. And a student who can
drive is just move a fast, oh, you hit a curb cone real quick.
So they put a lot
of drivers on the road. They’re a little shaky and then some drivers who can
drive are not passing. So. I don’t know, it’s not always a clear cut indication
of who can drive. You know what I mean? The test itself, I had a student
recently in the driving. Examiner actually came up to me like if they pass
their test today or not, Don’t let them get on the road.
At the end of the day, I can name what type of
things that should be on the driving test. The three points aren’t is on there.
Two points aren’t is not. Y, I mean, we do do three, four times all the time in
a row, but maybe if people knew two points has existed, they do those. . So I
would not say the driving test is a real indication of whether or not you can
drive, but it is a starting point.
They have to put
something out there. We have to try , doing assessments
and one day we
might be in flying cars and then we’ll have to do something totally different,
we’ll have to hover. It will change again.
TARANJIT: That’s interesting. Yeah. but that makes
sense. What are some skills that you’ve noticed drivers who’ve had their
license that they forget after they’ve
gotten their
license.
KEY: Number one, turn signals. And not
debatable everybody’s against those turn signals. To be quite honest, they are
not cautious in the same way is when they first get their licenses. . You’re
hesitant to do certain things.
You’re driving a
little slower. You’re looking a few more times, and then you get a little
negligent, right? We start to rush, we start to multitask. We start to break
focus. ? In the state of Maryland, , new drivers can’t do things like have
other people in the car, drive after certain hours.
Once you’ve had your license and you’ve
upgraded from that provisional tool, that full license.
you’re for the
more comfortable like, oh, my friends can come in the car with me. Now I can
blast the radio. I never let my students listen to the music while they’re
learning. , Because it is a learning environment and music helps.
Sometimes I just
told you we have music therapy, but when they’re driving, they have so much
going on with their senses already. And hearing is one thing that they
definitely need to use. Sirens. , when you hydroplane you hear it and feel it
like there are so many different instances where,
you need those
senses. Once they’ve gotten their license, they have the music on , they have
their friends in the car, they don’t know type of things. They’re rushing to
work. They’re using the GPS. They don’t text, they don’t text, please.
That might hurt
me. Please don’t even tell me they texts or anything like that. They better
not,
BHAVNEET: yeah, that was good. Hopefully they are
not blessed. Switch gears a little bit and go into more of your personal
driving. What would you say is the craziest things that you’ve experienced
while driving.
KEY: I was waiting for this question and this
was the one I was waiting. I was just going down the list of things oh my
goodness. I have so many, but yesterday I was a passenger in a car and. I don’t
know what happened. Maybe we weren’t moving fast enough for the truck behind
us, but they beat the horn at the light.
Maybe we missed
the light. I have no idea I wasn’t paying attention because I was not driving.
And when I’m not working, I just literally tried to relax in the passenger seat
or in the back seat if I really can, because that’s the only way I’ve really
felt like I’m networking, but some not paying attention really.
And whatever
happened, they beeped the horn. At the light, we make a left turn in the left
lane. It was multiple turning Mays in the left lane and they make the turn as
well in the right turning lane cut us off and block us, literally drove in
front of us to stop us. We’re both sitting in the middle of the street with
nothing happening, the person, driving the car to them and tries to back up and
go the other way, but goes and blocks us off.
So he goes the
other way, the truck goes and blocks it off again, literally it just stops. And
at this point I’m like, we better telephone. I don’t know what these people are
going to do. , eventually we just fell back and they drove off, but they were
certified crazy.
And I always tell
my students mind your business. Whatever’s going on out there, hear about on
the news. Don’t stop for it. , if you can keep going. So in the instance that
they blocked this, I’m like, oh no, where my, my business, we don’t have
anything to do with you. You don’t have anything to do with us.
We need to get out
of here. It was very nerve wracking, because I have no idea why you want to
stop in the middle of a very busy street, and literally stop us both. But I’m
like, is your rage that bad it’s rate, that’s literally what it is. It’s rate.
Road rage, of course. , it scared me and that was just yesterday. Another crazy
thing that I’ve had happened is I was sitting at a stop sign.
I was in the
passenger seat again, and I could not figure out why this car would not start
to move in the car’s making this noise and it’s going like this and everything,
and we just cannot figure out why the column move. And then eventually it
started moving and the driver was like, oh, I had both feet on both pedals at
the same time. Yeah, this is great because I’ve never even heard the car. It
wasn’t hydro. Uh, but it was very similar the way the car wanted to take off
the couldn’t and I’m just like, so that was crazy. I’ve had people follow. With
students. I have no idea why, literally just stopped following us and my
students learning how to drive, but now they have to lose the tail So it just
gets crazy really fast. People do the wildest things while driving.
BHAVNEET: I don’t understand why is one thing that
somebody will just cut you off because you have people will do that. I don’t
know why they get mad, but then they’ll keep going. The fact that they just
stopped, but then kept blocking you.
KEY: I know they were ashamed, afterwards, I
know they were really embarrassed. This, that, what did you accomplish? You
made us mostly but it was very scary. I was. All students or everyone, period,
you never know who you’re dealing with or how crazy they are.
We didn’t even do.
We literally didn’t I have done some things, , I wasn’t always a driving instructor.
I might’ve, , cause some people out too while I was driving or, , did something
crazy. But at the end of the day, we didn’t do anything like that.
At most, all I can
think of is we were going through slow, which was the speed limit.
TARANJIT: I feel like the rage and the rage here
in Maryland can get pretty bad sometimes even when you’re falling all the rules
and maybe you’re even like going five above the speed limit. You’re not going
slow. And people still get mad at you for going slow, even though you’re
goods for you.
KEY: Yeah, I also think every car accident is
one of your craziest drivers experiences. I remember I didn’t even have a car
accident this time, but I was taking one of my friends to the Metro and we were
going around this steep turn. It was just a sharp, sharp turn. It’s like a,
it’s not an exit, but it’s similar to an exit the way you come off the ramps.
And it was slick
outside. I don’t know if it was rainy or snowy. I was very. Maybe 19 and the
car started spinning in circles. And I was so scared, not because it was
spinning because that was actually kind of cool to me. That’s when I
definitely, I know I was too interested in driving cars.
That was cool to
me, but it was the fact that people couldn’t see us coming around the curve.
That’s what scared me that we were spinning and they couldn’t see us as they
came around a curve, but eventually we stopped spinning calmly, , steer the
wheel, get things back straight, and we just took off again.
So of course God
was protecting us, and I remember when I crashed my first car, I was actually
sitting still, so I didn’t crash it, but I was at a light turning left and it
was this big industrial truck coming towards me. They were supposed to be in
the lane beside me, but instead they hit me and I hadn’t turned left yet or
anything.
I was still in the
lane, not even across the white line in front of me and they just hit me
straight on and I just remember being there and just being like, okay, this
might hurt a little, but you’re going to be okay. , this is the thought, like
everything just slowed down.
When you’re in a
car, those were like the craziest moments, because. Yes. Since it’s Tom slows
down, fear plays a different role. all this adrenaline is rushing and you’re
like, whose fault is it? And I was trying to manage that.
And maybe that
process should change as well, because sometimes an accidents when we should be
more concerned about each other’s wellbeing, we’re more so trying to prepare
for who’s at fault. That’s another thing that we might need to change, somehow
some way, but, , we all pay insurance.
Do we have even
have to be at fault? I want to know that a person is okay. And that they care
that I’m okay. Not just that. Oh, who’s what was like, as soon as you get out
of the car, like, why are you okay? Are you breathing any internal damage?
BHAVNEET: Yeah, get our priorities straight.
KEY: people
TARANJIT: Yeah. I feel like what I, I had, uh, not
as serious as yours. I had an accident before I had a red light where someone
let go of the brake and just their car just kind of hit into the back of my
car. she actually got out and was like, oh my gosh, are you okay? Like, that
was the first question she asked
KEY: cause she ran into the back of you had
you ran into the back of her and I really hope my reaction would have been the
same. Like that’s what we’re sitting here. Hoping of course. But it was because
she ran out
TARANJIT: yeah, I feel like it’s not really taught
what to do in an accident. You just like when you’re getting your first
accident and you’re just like, okay, now what do you do? Like when I got in
that moment, I was like, what do I do? I mean, she didn’t really hit me that
bad. So I’m like, do I just keep going?
Do I stop? , I was
still a new, drivers. I had no idea what to do. And I was like, okay, maybe I
should stop. But then it’s like, when I get out, what do I do? Like what
questions to ask? What information do I get?
KEY: In the curriculum, it touches on the
basics like, okay, you need to have your insurance cards with you, call the
police if anybody’s injured, but you’re not telling me , who’s at fault how I
should prepare what information I should take out from them, their name, their
number, their insurance policy, yada, yada, if they have any injuries, take
pictures.
Nobody’s telling
you to take pictures of things. So I absolutely agree that is something that
they need to dive into deeper into the curriculum. And I don’t know why this
has made me think of another crazy Java story, but one of my students fell
asleep while driving. That makes me think, I guess, because it’s a liability.
Yeah. They fell
asleep. I drive it and I noticed one time they went over to the side and I was
like, you okay. And they didn’t answer me and I’m okay. But they straightened
up. He wasn’t very talkative anyway, but. I noticed when the car literally
slowed down and stopped and I looked over and he was asleep and I was.
Oh, okay. And he
was like, I’m sorry. I was like, don’t be sorry. You can go right back to sleep
because you can in this past, it’s just that. And I’m going to get in the
driver’s side. We’re going to reschedule this. You’re going to do it another
day. And I think that most important about that scenario is that all students
that come to us are not coming.
Not knowing how to
drive. He knew how to drive. So he was driving. And if anybody’s in Merlin, you
know, where Waldorf is, it seems like an island, you drive straight there it’s
far you might as well be going across the globe. But it was like a long,
straight trip there. And we were going there to practice the driving test and
he fell asleep he knew how to drive.
So I think his
biggest lesson in that moment for him having already known how to drive was.
Drowsy driving. You can’t fight it. You can’t, , counter it. You’re not going
to be able to roll down a window, get some cool air, turn up the music, splashing
water on your face. None of this is going to work to keep you awake.
Eventually your
sleep will win. And most people crash the car when they get?
closer to home. So
it’s not when you’re trying to stay up when the highway is when you’re familiar
and you’re in that area. one of the most important things that we need to teach
our students, there’s not in the curriculum as well.
It’s touched on in the classroom, but it’s the
behind the wheel where they don’t touch on these things really? Like, how do
you literally carry them out and behave? Like what happens? Like what do I do?
Okay. You told me not to drive drowsy. Now what? Pull over, take a nap, call a
friend.
Don’t leave their
house to begin with. If you want to know what I mean is late at night, we have
to teach them all of the wet, have to take it all the way and make sure that
they know what to do to counter these things and not just tell them that.
TARANJIT: I, I agree with that a lot because I
feel like those things aren’t typically taught and when you’re first learning
to drive, those skills are important to know so that when you are in those
situations, you know how to handle yourself or, you know, like, okay, I
shouldn’t be driving right now.
I need to pull
over , take a break. Or I feel like people don’t do that when they’re tired,
they just go.
BHAVNEET: That’s okay to take a break. Like you
don’t have to do it in one step.
KEY: I think again, it’s cultural, we know we
drive, we know people get, do get tired, but we really make rest areas for like
truckers. We don’t really have rest areas throughout. Like we have electric
charging stations, , throughout the country now, but this is easy. We can make
like a little rest station along our highways, like, , come in here, take a nap
and be safe.
Is somehow I don’t know what it looks like,
but we can incorporate these things. And like I said, it’s just overall, things
that we can improve on as a people.
TARANJIT: I love that. I love that idea. I wish
they incorporated that. I wish they listened to this and they incorporate that.
KEY: Oh, they are gonna listen. Cause this is
blowing up. So they want to hear it a little late, but they’re going to hear
it.
TARANJIT: speaking of the drivers here in
Maryland, how would you describe them? And how would you compare drivers here
into other areas?
KEY: On a scale from one to 10, with one
being like scared to be behind the wheel and 10 being like you don’t need to be
behind the wheel. You’re like wildly aggressive road raising everything. Um, I
say Maryland is like a 7, 8, 7 strong seven, eight. When that happened to me
yesterday, I was actually in Philadelphia.
They might be a
non-point. Easy. And just because they don’t have as much space, like some
maneuver and stuff like that, but, Maryland, you’re not going to find people
that are pretty nice. No, one’s going to be like, oh, just get over. Like you
find somebody that thank you. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day happy
birthday, but you just want to wish them well.
Also though, I don’t know if people are nice
either when you try to be nice to people, do they even say thank you anymore?
Do they put the hair? In the middle anymore. Things are just kind of rude in
our area, but I’m trying, like I said, I’m trying to make a difference with our
drivers and have them approach it a little differently.
I’ve been all over the world, LA new Orleans,
Japan, Spain, Jamaica, and these places, they all drive in different ways and
cars in different ways. And it’s always. Just the cultural shock to take it all
in and the differences as well as the similarities and the similarities.
Always my
favorite, like we’re living on different sides of the world. Don’t all the same
things for the most part, I would just say at the foundation, we’re all the
same. We’re all trying to get where we’re at. We want to get home to our family
safely. We want new independence,
we want to be able
to seek out opportunities that may be further out and things like that. But
then the differences just come, and the types of cars and which sides of the
road, we drive more. What type of gas you use? Does your car have lashes or not
this is like the smallest things, but at the heart of it all, we’re all just
trying to do the same.
BHAVNEET: Exactly no matter where you are, where
we all drive.
KEY: And not even all of us, but we rely on
people who drive. We rely on Uber drivers, bus drivers, ambulance drivers. So
even if you’re not a driver, you respect the driver. You’ll appreciate the
drivers, the drivers in your life. It gets you where you need to go. Shout out
to all our drivers.
TARANJIT: Speaking of drivers, what would you say
is your biggest driving pet pee
KEY: I always see you all ask this question
to people and I guess I never think about it, but I have a few. I have so many,
of course I’m a driving instructor. Like I’m not just a driver, I’m a driving
instructor. Everything is a pet peeve to me, turning on the wrong side of the
road.
You turn the two
ads, not using your turn signal cause that’s communicating with drivers, but
it’s also, when you use your turn signal, I use it when you get to your turn,
cause you didn’t let anyone know that you were like, you need to let them know
ahead of time. So they know to slow down. That’s the point,
veering drifting
to the left or right. Boom. That’s when my heart come on my chest. Cause he got
married there’s you got oncoming traffic. I’d rather you drift to the right
than the left in any given day. Other driving pet peas, Don’t flinch. If your
phone rang don’t even flinch, like you want to go to it.
You’re texting and
driving, like you might not care about your life, but what about mine? I have
so many, we just, we go down to this all day,
TARANJIT: I feel the same way as you, because we
both have really long commute to and from work well, before she switched to
remote that whenever we ask our guests this question, then they list a PO. I’m
just like, oh yeah, that’s mine too. And then was just like, my list just gets
along.
BHAVNEET: Thank you for telling me my piece.
KEY: They literally all of them out, all over
the bar. So I hope hopefully when people hear these pet peeves, they think
about do they do them and , it keeps them up at night. It convicts them while
they’re driving and they don’t do them anymore. Maybe we’re changing the world
to be a better place.
You guys are onto
something.
TARANJIT: Make you rethink your driving
BHAVNEET: and
KEY: Exactly. I love it.
TARANJIT: So switching gears a little bit to talk
about the future of driving. I know you touched on this earlier, but with
flying cars and everything, what are your thoughts on self-driving cars? And is
this something that you
would get in?
KEY: I mean, I’ve been in my fair share of
Teslas. I think it makes people even more laxed, maybe in a negative way. If
it’s driving itself now, you’re feeling like you can go through and do more on
your phone and readable. Literally daring yourself, like, oh, I put it on so I
could do this. , I think for now we should still pay attention.
We should still
have tension until technology continues to develop. But I’m welcome at all. I
welcome advances in?
technology and
knowledge, let’s do It We’re behind. I was supposed to have flying cars. How
long, why are we still on the ground? Somebody has here. , I mean, I would just
pivot , we teach people how to operate their self-driving cars.
That’s it. So I
don’t mind it. I love it. I welcome it. And I want to see it.
BHAVNEET: It would be really cool to cease flying
cars. That’s the next thing we just don’t straight line cars. We don’t need
self-driving cars, just flying cars.
KEY: We can sell a food that can cut out all
of that, but, And so we get there. Yeah. Let’s get some black Hawks.
TARANJIT: You would have a teleportation
KEY: you know, I would, you know, I would,
I’d be like, be safe out there. Teleporting always when you’re telling points.
BHAVNEET: Bonus question time. If you could make
one, a new driving law, what would it be?
KEY: I think I hate this. It would be, the
drivers had to get their licenses renewed. you can’t just be driving forever
just because you pass your driving test when you were 16, a lot of stuff going
to happen. Mentally, physically, who knows. So at the end of the day, I think
they should have to renew their licenses at some point and they should have to
retest cause we do have to renew.
But they should have to retain. They say, or
they should have to do some type of continuing education around driving and as
self-driving cars come out you would learn the latest law. Look at me
developing the curriculum. This is what I do, but you will learn the latest
laws. You will learn the latest in the technology.
Learn. Hints and tips the insurance or,
whatever the case may be?
but you would
definitely need some type of continuing education, maybe every three to five
years or something. I’m not talking about every year, every two years, but just
to make sure that , people are still fit to be on the road.
TARANJIT: You’re actually not the first person to
say that I feel like other people have also agreed with that idea that you
should have to retest. Do you think that it should be a full retest of like
when you first get your license, should it be like a modified
version of it?
KEY: it could be a different test, but you
should still have to be behind the wheel. And this just still have a law aspect
to it?
because laws
change. For instance, that, , move over law where the police officers on the
side of the road, we have to get into a different lane. , things change new
laws are created, so they would just have to learn those and actually
demonstrate that knowledge.
And it would be
easy. I mean, you might have an attitude about, , scheduling an appointment and
going up there, but you know how driving is once you know how to do it, you
should know how to do it. Nobody who drives every day is going to fill it out.
TARANJIT: Yeah. Have you been driving for that
long? You should be comfortable enough to show your skills and pass.
Well, we’re going
to coming close to the end of our episode. , you have any final thoughts or any
tips that you would like to give other drivers out there? Whether they’re a new
driver or an
old driver?
KEY: My first tip would be, , if you have any
questions or any needs come to a Spire, , we’re here to help, but for the most
part, stay courteous. Remember that we’re all going somewhere. Some of us are
in a hurry. So while you’re being courteous, , that might be speed up a little.
Sometimes when
people get out their way or might me slow down and let them go pass you, but at
the end of the day, I think the most important thing for us to do is just stay
courteous. And remember that we’re all out here on the road. We all, when
you’re. Safely and none of us want to hurt each other, either in the process,
there are some
very steep consequences to doing so. , so none of us want to be around that
type of stuff or be involved in that type of stuff. At the end of the day, just
remember that all of us are. These aren’t cars on the road driving themselves
yet, like empty. There are humans in them.
There are mothers
and fathers and sisters and brothers and husbands and wives and babies, little
babies and little puppies. Look that might move some people puppies in these
cars. So please remember the humanity of it all. Don’t get caught up and trying
to get where you’re going and just seeing.
Turn signals these are actually people, so be
courteous to them because them, and just be safe. The more courteous you are to
others, the safer of the driver you are.
BHAVNEET: I agreed. Very important for everyone to
listen to.
KEY: Yes.
BHAVNEET: Thank you so much for coming on before
we let you go. Where can our listeners find you if they want to connect with
you?
KEY: Thank you all for having me, this was so
much fun. I wish I could come back next week, but no, it’s an honor. Like I
said, I always watched her interview. So just to be here is a dream come true.
It’s my first podcast. Your special as well. Listeners, you can find us on Instagram
at aspire, a S P I R E driving academy.
, online, you can
find us@wwwdotaspiredrivingacademy.com. We are here to help in any way
possible. Just call us if we can’t help you, we’ll let you know. But most of
the time we can. thank you all again.
(transition music)
TARANJIT: I feel like we could have chatted with
Key for hours. She has so many stories. I feel like we just like graze the
surface.
BHAVNEET: Yeah. We could do like a whole season.
Driving instructing.
TARANJIT: And I’m sure since the last time we
chatted with her, she’s probably has so much more to share. So yeah, we would
love to have her back on her if she’s willing to come back on.
I also learned so
much from her more than I learned from my own driver’s ed instructor. The
driver instructor that I had didn’t teach me anything. So I feel like I learned
more in this conversation than I ever learned.
BHAVNEET: I mean, as we told her, if she was
there, when we were learning to drive, I would have driven down to her school
so that she could teach us.
I
TARANJIT: come and picked you up. She has a pickup
stuff
BHAVNEET: that too.
TARANJIT: And I also love how much she encourages
her students and she figures out their learning style and tries to cater to
that to teach them how to drive based on their learning
BHAVNEET: and not just one size fits all.
TARANJIT: Yeah. It’s awesome.
And I wish her the
best of luck with her driving school
BHAVNEET: Speaking of driving ed experiences,
share with us your driver’s ed experiences and what type of driver’s ed
instructor you had.
Speaking of
Driver’s ed, share with us, your driver’s ed experiences on Instagram at drive
with us podcast, and let us know what type of drivers instructor you had.
And be sure to
stay tuned until the end of this episode, to hear a sneak peek of next week’s
episode with Logan and everyday driver who has driven almost a 1 million miles
in his 11 years of driving.
TARANJIT: I shared with us about the time an angry
driver tried to make him pull over and fight with him.
BHAVNEET: If you enjoyed this podcast, you could
help support the show by sharing it with your friends or leaving us a review on
Podchaser. It really does help us get discovered.
TARANJIT: Thank you for choosing to drive with us
and we’ll see you all next week.
(outro music)
LOGAN: I had to help my buddy, I was pulling like that hour days to where, when he would drive, we’d switch off. Cause he has a narcolepsy kind of tendency when he drives. He finds driving so boring. He will fall asleep at the wheel
but by the time we got to Arizona all of a sudden the car launched itself around this corner.