4-Point Driving School “Points” the Way to Safety

For Sam Qadri, owner of 4-Point Driving School, teaching people to drive safely has become a multigenerational part of serving the Jamestown community. Qadri has helped educate drivers who then bring their children to learn from him.

“When I get a student driver that says to me, ‘You were my mom’s or dad’s teacher,’” Qadri said when asked what he enjoys most about his work. “That by itself is a great honor to me.”

4-Point Driving School is a local business focused on automobile driver and traffic safety education. Authorized and licensed by New York State and the Department of Motor Vehicles, the school was started to help fill what Qadri described as an important gap in driver education in the community, where most public school districts offer driver education classes only during the summer.

After working with students in the area for the past 30 years, Qadri said he still appreciates the opportunity to continue to teach such an important range of skills.

“Serving in my own hometown, friends, neighbors, co-workers and working with my students and then their own children in the past 30 years is a great rewarding feeling,” he said.

The school also provides the New York State prelicensing course to new and returning drivers. Students can enroll in the course either in person or online through Zoom.

“Most students sign up with us for the prelicensing course certification, which would qualify them to sign up for the DMV road test,” Qadri said.

4-Point Driving School also offers rehabilitative driver evaluations, a service geared toward returning drivers who are typically referred by a family physician, family member or the DMV Medical Unit. Through a partnership with the National Traffic Safety Institute, or NTSI, the school also offers the Insurance Point Reduction driver safety course.

When instructors are available for behind-the-wheel driving lessons, Qadri said the school works with “new and returning drivers of all ages and levels.” Qadri said one of the things that sets 4-Point Driving School apart is the professional training students receive.

“Students are paired with a professionally certified driver and traffic safety education instructor who is well trained and prepared to do all that’s necessary to create safe and success stories, one student-driver at a time,” he said.

While earning a license is an important milestone, Qadri wants students to leave the program with a broader understanding of what it means to be a safe driver.

“Students are taught to be fully attentive and aware of their driving environment, always practice defensive driving, drive sober, as well as be an educated and a safe driver,” he said.

Qadri also has advice for parents who find themselves in the passenger seat while helping a new driver learn the ropes.

“Be patient. Provide very specific instructions,” he said. “Remember that when there is yelling and screaming in the car while trying to teach a lesson, learning would be very difficult, if not impossible.”

He encourages parents to remain aware of what is happening around the vehicle so they can help their new driver anticipate situations on the road.

“Be two to three steps ahead of your driver,” Qadri said. “Be the extra pair of eyes and ears for your driver.”

Just as importantly, he said, parents should model the same safe driving habits they want their children to develop.

“Always follow the rules of the road and local/state laws,” Qadri said.

Students, he added, sometimes report learning bad driving habits from their parents. One example is accelerating to make it through a yellow traffic light before it turns red.

As 4-Point Driving School continues serving the area, Qadri said there may also be something new on the horizon.

“We’re going to try and bring a ‘Drunk Driver’ rehab program,” he said.

Those interested in 4-Point Driving School can visit the business’s local webpage at https://www.drivingschooltime.com for enrollment information and additional details. Potential students and parents can also leave a voicemail at 716-777-3451.