FAQ

There are a few steps to do to become a professional driving school instructor.  First you must complete 65 hours of on the job training.  This includes classroom and in car training.  You must complete an application with the registry and pass a background check as well as have a clean driving record.  You then must take a 100 question comprehensive exam at the registry and pass with a minimum of 90% correct.  Once you pass all of these steps the registry will issue your professional driving school instructor license.  You will have to renew your instructor license annually, and pass a background check and continue to have a clean driving record.

We have cameras in all of our cars recording inside and outside of the vehicle as well as audio.  All of our state, certified instructors have constant access to an instructor brake on their side of the vehicle.  We take safety seriously here and want to make sure all of our students have a safe, positive experience here with us.

Electronically/On-line or by email. Please read the scheduling email we send out every other week and respond with your availability for the weeks requested. To sign up for cancellation notification to schedule driving and or observing lessons, go to middlesexdriving.com, click the login button (far top right hand corner on homepage) and use your online username and password (you can change it anytime) that you created at the time of registration. If a Parent wants to schedule a lesson for their son or daughter, they will simply use their teenager's username and password.  Again, if you have any difficulties or questions, call our office at 781-729-1474.  Our staff will be glad to help.  

Please remember:

• The parent class must be completed before scheduling your in car training.
• You must be paid in full.
• We need a copy of your permit.
• Practice at home all the time, minimum 40 hours at home before Road Test per RMV!
• All in-car lessons are on a first come first served basis. Please also understand you can skip weeks, even month's, ...you take these lessons as you feel ready and have the time commitment.  You have two years to finish Driver's Education!  Remember, it is expensive to cancel lessons with less than a 48 hour notice (fyi, RMV is on a 72 hour notice), if you are a no show at pick-up, or you do not have your permit when you get into our Driving School cars, your feeling sick at pick-up, or your dog ate your homework...NO MERCY!!! This is an industry "norm" to charge the student's account for such additional costs and operating inefficiencies associated with rescheduling, paying twice both the scheduler & instructor personnel, wear and tear on our vehicles, and the increase human stress on MDA's personnel and Ownership!

You do have to have a valid Massachusetts permit to do any in car training including observation hours. Sorry, RMV rule!

Please be advised that we require a minimum of a 48 hour notice if you need to cancel a lesson so we have time to schedule that lesson with another student.  If we do not get a 48 hour notice, you will be charged a $60 cancellation fee for every hour you cancel.  You will not be able to schedule another lesson until the cancellation fee is paid. Bottom line: make an appointment... then make the appointment! 

To cancel a scheduled lesson you need to login to your account and click the "x" button on the lesson you need to cancel.  This is the only way to cancel lessons!  If you call, text, or email, we cannot guarantee we will get your message in time and you will be charged a $60 late fee. 

We do road tests at our main office every other week.  Please email us (preferred method) or call the office at 781 729-1474 and let us know that you would like to take your road test here with us.  We will add you to the list we submit to the registry. The current fee for students to take a road test here with us is $200 which is seperate from the registry fees of $85.  The $85 is the licensing and road test fee which, again is separate from our fee. The current fee for non-students to take a road test here with us is $250. 

Note: Once we submit the list, we can not add or delete a student so please don't make plans the week of your road test!

• - RMV Learner's Permit Test: $30.00 per try
• - RMV Road Test Appointment: $35.00 per try 
• - RMV Driver's License: $50.00
• -Go to our "Rules & Resources" page and use the link to pay them!

In the event that the local area schools are either cancelled or dismissed early due to inclement weather, driver education classes as well as road lessons may be cancelled.  Every effort however, is made to hold the class or the road lesson as scheduled.  This decision will be made at the discretion of MDA. If MDA cancels all activity (classes, driving, observations etc.) we will make every effort to contact you by telephone, text, email, as early as a decision is made. We will also post on our homepage whether we cancelled some or all activity for the day...check there too (www.middlesexdriving.com). Note: we do drive in the snow...we live and work in it however, when snow accumulates above three inches and the plows have difficulty keeping our roads clean/clear, we will generally cancel all activity. We will follow/monitor the weather forecasts throughout the storm to have the most up to date information.  Note: If the Governor and or his/her delegate states only essential personnel on our roads then we are required to cancel ALL indoor and outdoor activity. 

Safety is Job/Concern one!

You must complete 30 hours of classroom training, 12 hours of behind the wheel training, 6 hours of observing in the back seat of our cars, and a 2 hour parent class.  The 2 hour parent class is not required if you are 18 years of age or older when starting the course. A Parent Certificate less than five years old from another sibling will suffice but please forward copy to us.  If your sibling graduated from MDA, let us know the approximate date and we will copy from our files.

You have to be 15 years and 9 months old to start drivers education.  You have to be 16 years old to obtain your permit.

You do not have to have a permit to take the 30 hours of classroom training.  In fact, our classroom traing is designed to help you pass your permit test! You do have to have a permit to start your in car instruction.

If you need to miss a class you can make it up at any time in a future class.  For example, if you have to miss the second day of class, you do not have to make up the second day in a future class.  You can make up those hours at any time that is convenient for you.

This is a mandatory  two hour class for parents/guardians of any person under the age of 18 who would like to obtain their license.  The parent class certificate is good for 5 years and you will receive it upon completion of the class. Only one parent is required to attend but both are welcome as well.  As of May 1, 2019, the RMV is requiring the parent class be completed prior to any driving and observation lessons can be scheduled.  If you are not a member of our driving school you will be charged a fee that has to be paid at least 7 days before the class or pay cash the day of the class.

The Mass RMV requires you to complete the Driver Education Program within a two year period. Unfortunately, if you do not complete the program during this time, and you want to earn your certificate, you will be required to re-take the full course.*

*Additional fees will apply.

Typically a permit is only valid for a period of 2 years.  If that expires, you are required to re-take and pass the permit test at a full service RMV (temporarily taken at home) and pay the permit fee again.

You can use a credit card (Visa, Master Card, or Discover Card) to make a $630 deposit or pay in full. We also accept personal checks (no personal checks with road tests), bank money orders and cash. Feel free to mail us or drop your payment off in our mailbox next to our front door or, if we're here, come in and say "Hi"!  If paying in cash, you must drop off in person and you will receive a receipt. Your account must be paid in full before you or your teen can schedule driving and observation lessons. Please be advised that we adhere to a strict no refund policy. Thank you.

Any parent/guardian  who wishes to attend any of our classes is cordially invited to do so at any time.  Further, any parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, guardian who would like to volunteer to share their experiences in a related field as a "Guest Speaker", we ask you to please contact us prior to the start of the class to coordinate.  We will also suggest to the students on the first day of class to ask their parent(s)/guardian if they would like to participate. Typically, the Guest Speaker presents their life/work experiences for about twenty minutes and then fields questions from the students for about ten minutes.  A guest speaker's participation really enriches the Drivers Education experience for all of our students and staff!  If you're interested but not sure of your background/fit, please contact MDA to discuss. Examples would be personal injury/family Lawyers, all types of first responders including medical fields, Insurance specialists, Auto mechanics, Auto body specialists, Auto/Truck designers and Engineers, City/Town Traffic Managers, and transportation industry in general. If your a well known Global Celebrity or similar, we will consider you too! MDA will arrange security for your visit if you prefer and an autograph designated area?!