Findley’s Driver Education opens Tillsonburg office
DRIVER TRAINING
Posted By By Jeff Helsdon
Posted 9 months ago
A well-known local business opened its first storefront location in town.
Findley's Driver Education opened at 39 Brock Street West in October. Although the storefront is new, the business has been operating in Tillsonburg since the early 1970s.
Company owner Dianne Hodges purchased the company from Bill Findley three years ago. She, like most Tillsonburg natives 50 and under, took her driving training from Bill.
Hodges then worked for Findley teaching driver's education for 30 years. Although he is no longer teaching and is retired, Findley still provides advice.
"He still hangs around, he's part of the woodwork," Hodges said. "He's our advisor, consultant guy."
Findley has been teaching driver's education since 1961. The Courtland resident started teaching driver's education at Parkside Collegiate in St. Thomas. At one time, he taught in Oxford, Elgin and Norfolk. Findley had the contract for Tillsonburg schools for 35 years.
When it came time to renew the contract this year, Hodges said they couldn't agree on the terms.
"We decided to branch out on our own so we could offer more things," she said.
For instance, one of the extras that is offered is training at the skid school in Aylmer. Students learn about emergency braking and what to do if their car goes out of control at the school. Students also have more flexibility in course times with the new facility.
Now the Tillsonburg location is open, Findley's Driver Education has three offices and 10 employees. The St. Thomas office has been open since 1983.
The course Findley Driver Education is offering is 25 hours of class time, 10 hours of driving training, including skid school and five hours of home link training. Classes are usually Mondays and Wednesdays, but a four-day course is also being offered over the Christmas holidays.
"Our job isn't to get people a driver's license, it's to help them survive on the road," Hodges said.
Course cost is $625, including taxes.
Driver's education graduates have a shorter waiting period to try for their G2 license. They also receive an insurance discount of 10 to 44%.
And for those new drivers being held up by the current strike, Hodges was hopeful it would be resolved by the end of the year.
Findley's Driver Education can be reached at 519-842-8835 or at 1-877-942-7272 for registration.
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