Arizona Academy of Defensive Driving

UGH!!!
It was pure torture and I thought of every idea to get released half way through the 4 hour class. Faking a seizure only works in the movies and I refuse to pee and crap my pants to get out of class ever again.
Anyhoo…I give this class five stars because it has met its objective. I no longer hit the gas when I see the po po coming. It was a nervous reaction officer and I’m on my way to Palm Springs. Please, just this one time? Nope, bam– driving school for your mister!
On a side note, I strongly believe the crazies that were in this class were planted psychotics and I now disagree with every one who has made the statement «there is no such things as a stupid question.» Well there is such thing and these dummies proved it. Yes, I’m looking at you Mrs. Stupid and rolling my eyes dramastically. Although you were ticketed for speeding, you ask a question about Marijuana use and if you can strap your toy poodle in the passenger seat while taking the HOV– exclaiming dogs are people too! Dogs aren’t PEOPLE people, we all know better than that!
You had it coming… WE ALL DID!

Now, before you go judging my speedy excursion through the desert, realize that any day now, your luck will run out and one of the several hundred cameras all over the Valley will finally catch you. Just when your guard is down; it snap your pretty picture and you’ll have to pay up, too.
In which case, I would recommend the Arizona Academy of Defensive Driving, if you’re eligible. Here’s why:
1. I honestly expected the sort of half-​assed, poorly executed service that comes from companies that survive almost solely because of govmnt. entities (much the way govmnt. offices and services are run). This company had friendly customer service when I had questions about whether or not I was eligible, and spent a good amount of time on the phone with me while I figured out which location/​time/​date would work for me and still keep me in check with the deadline to complete the class, and even sent me an e-​mail reminder the day before my class with info reminding me where it was and what I needed to bring.
2. Apparently there is an exception for Yuma courts that criminal speeding (below a certain mph number) is still eligible for driving school. I really thought this was going to be a nightmare to set up with multiple calls back and forth from a school to the court and possibly even faxed papers from the court to the school, but it was not at all with AZADD. I did in fact call a number of schools before finding AZADD and they seemed to be clueless about this exception — weird considering it’s their livelihood to be up to speed on these things (no pun intended). Well, that was if they answered the phone at all! Too many had weird hours or just a recording to leave a message. Really? This does not help your credibility, people.
3. The facility was a decent place — a meeting room of the Comfort Inn and Sweets (ha ha, I’m leaving that because when I do stuff like that, I shake my head and go «I’m an editor?» Hey, at least I proofread!) in Scottsdale. In the past I’ve taken class in that trashy strip mall where Yucca resides and in an abandoned school off McClintock that was equally as run down. Not to mention, the class itself was $ 29. Though I paid $ 244 total, all but $ 29 went to city and state fees.
4. The instructor was not using his time in front of 60+ grumpy students as a springboard to his stand-​up comedy career. To be honest, the instructor did crack a few jokes, but they were actually funny, particularly when he made fun of those inevitable students who have their endless «hypothesis» questions or want to argue why a law shouldn’t be a law. It is, d-​bag; get over it and let’s move on.
5. The instructor knew his stuff. It was impressive, really. If you’ve ever been to a driving class, you know there are actually a lot of myths out there about what is legal and what is not legal and vice versa. He cleared all that up and even knew why a lot of the misperceptions existed in the first place — I can honestly say I learned a lot of *useful* information.
6. The instructor knew when to breeze through a topic (i.e. how to drive in the rain or basic common sense stuff) and when to spend more time discussing shit we actually care about (i.e. do I really have to pay that camera ticket?)
Traffic school already sucks, so you might was well get a good company to help you through it!